Vrije Universiteit Brussel

“Women experience the city in different way than men”, this notion has been one of the main cores of gender urban studies recently. The workshop aims to explore this notion and to address particularly the different dominance structures that affect the way Arab-women in western society use public spaces.

Competences:

• Open a new vision in social and physical planning.
• Increasing the solidarity and tolerance between different cultures.
• Understanding how urban planning and social relations affect women¡¦s urban behaviours.
• Considering women¡¦s perspective in terms of using public spaces in urban policies.

Previous knowledge:

Background in gender planning, urban design, or social cultural studies is helpful.

Content:

First a general introduction will be provided about gender as a term and as a field of research, then focussing on the relation between Gender and Urban Design, and generating a historical review about the time that gender and urban environment started to take a part in Women's Studies. Second, the workshop will explore the notion of "women's experience the city in different way than men", and how feminist scholars argued this concept. Finally, the workshop will in particular talk about Arab women in western contexts, precisely in Brussels, trying to explore the main dominance structures that affect the way they use public spaces even inside their community; like gender relations and social practices or within the whole society; like ethnicity and stereotyping.

Study material:

Reader will be provided

Condition(s) for attribution of credits (e.g. active participation or mode of assessment):

Two credits are awarded on the condition that a written paper is made available in advance and that it is presented during the content seminar. Attendance and active participation during the seminar generate one credit.

More information: http://www.vub.ac.be/phd/doctoralschools/dsh/dsh22.html

By Jane Verlinden, Central PhD Office & Doctoral Schools