| Unit Number & Title | Core Topics & Detailed Sub-Themes Covered |
| Unit-I: Introduction to Women’s Studies | - Key concepts in Gender studies.
- Need, Scope and challenges of Women’s Studies — Women’s Studies as an academic discipline.
- Transition from Women’s Studies to Gender Studies, and the Need for Gender Sensitization.
- Global and local Women’s Movements: Pre-independence, Post-independence, and Contemporary Debates.
- National Committees and Commissions for Women.
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| Unit-II: Feminist Thinkers and Theories | - Core Feminist Theories: Liberal Feminism, Marxist Feminism, Radical Feminism, Socialist Feminism, Indian Feminism, Black Feminism, and Eco-Feminism.
- New Feminist Debates: Post-Colonial/Post-Modern perspectives, LGBT frameworks, and Masculinity Studies.
- Contemporary Contestations: Intersex and Transgender Movements.
- Key Feminist thinkers across the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st Centuries.
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| Unit-III: Gender and Education | - Women’s Education: Gender diversities and disparities in enrollment, curriculum content, dropouts, profession, and gender dynamics.
- Gendered Education: Influences of Family, Culture, Gender roles, and Gender Identities.
- Education tailored for Marginalized Women.
- Recent Trends in Women’s Education: Various Committees and Commissions on Education.
- Vocational education and Skill Development initiatives for women.
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| Unit-IV: Women, Work and Employment | - Theoretical Perspectives: Frameworks by Fredrick Engels, Rosa Luxemburg, Sandra Whiteworth, and Boserup Esther.
- Concept of Work: Productive vs. non-productive work; Use value vs. market value.
- Gender Division of Labour and Mode of Production.
- Analysis of Women in both organized and unorganized sectors.
- New Economic Policy and its specific impact on Women’s Employment, Globalization, and Structural Adjustment Programs.
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| Unit-V: Gender and Entrepreneurship | - Entrepreneurship: Concept, meaning, importance, entrepreneurial traits, and contributing factors.
- Creating an enabling environment, managing small Enterprises, and women’s roles in agribusiness.
- Gender and emerging Technology: Development and its overall impact.
- Financial mechanisms: Self-help Groups (SHGs) and Micro Credit.
- Structural processes: Gender mainstreaming, Gender budgeting, planning, and Analysis.
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| Unit-VI: Women and Health | - Life Cycle Approach to Women’s Health.
- Health status of women in India, along with factors influencing general health and Nutritional status.
- Evolution from Maternal and Child Health (MCH) to broader Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) approaches.
- Critical social issues: Declining Child Sex Ratio, Widowhood, and old age challenges.
- Focus on Occupational health, mental health, hygiene, and sanitation.
- National Health and Population Policies and Programmes.
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| Unit-VII: Women Empowerment and Development | - Theories of Development and Alternative approaches: Women in Development (WID), Women and Development (WAD), and Gender and Development (GAD).
- Empowerment concepts and key global indices: Gender Development Index (GDI), Gender Inequality Index (GII), and Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI).
- Historical shift of Women Development approaches across Indian Five-Year Plans.
- Women and leadership: Roles within Panchayati Raj systems, NGOs, and general Women Development.
- Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), accompanying policies, and programmes.
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| Unit-VIII: Women Law and Governance | - Core Rights: Gender Equality, Gender Discrimination, and framing Women’s Rights as Human Rights.
- Dedicated Constitutional provisions for Women in India.
- Legal frameworks: Personal laws, Labor Laws, Family Courts, and enforcement machinery involving the Police and Judiciary.
- Crime against Women and Children: Child Abuse, systemic violence, Human Trafficking, and legal protection under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013.
- International Conventions and Legislations related to global Women’s Rights.
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| Unit-IX: Gender and Media | - Theoretical discourse on Women and Media Studies: Analysis of Mainstream Media vs. Feminist Media formats.
- Evaluation of how women’s issues are covered, alongside the representation of women inside Mass Media and Media Organizations (both Audio-Visual and Print media).
- Rise of Digital Media and its associated legal protections.
- Alternative Media strategies: Folk Art, Street Plays, and community Theatre.
- Regulatory legislation: Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986, and the general socio-cultural impact of media on women.
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| Unit-X: Feminist Research Methodology | - Foundations of Feminist Research: Underlying concepts, major scholarly debates, and historical limitations.
- Epistemological frameworks: Feminist Epistemology, Feminist Standpoint theories, Sexist vs. Non-Sexist Research Methodologies, Ethnography, and Queer Theories.
- Practical Research Designs and Methods: Mastering Survey, Exploratory, Diagnostic, Experimental, Action Research, and detailed Case Studies.
- Comparative analysis: Qualitative versus Quantitative Research paradigms.
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