‘Start from your own situation’: a political analysis on the relationship between gender and education in an Italian University course

Abstract

In the text, we will try to give an account of the experience of collaboration in a Public Ethics course in the degree course in Pedagogical Sciences at the University of Verona. The course in Public Ethics has had, as its main theme, the reflection on the distinction between public and private. We will begin with consider the national context and then the one of Verona, characterised on one side by a strong feminist presence, on the other from being inserted into a cultural environment with an equally strong presence of the Catholic and conservative. After investigating this peculiar coexistence, we would like to highlight our reactions and those of the students. In particular, we will focus on emerging resistances and on amazement in front of the issues and the history of feminism by many male and female students. Finally, we use the points that emerged during the course to rethink our position as feminists and as researchers. ARTICLE HISTORY

Sexism and Rape Myth Acceptance: The Impact of Culture, Education, and Religiosity

“…Although the educational gender gap was recognized by the Ministry of Education, University and Research, the issue is far from resolved. This could also be due to the lack of recognition of the problem by faculty and by the absence of institutionalization of gender and women’s studies as the main focus of any university departments or graduate programs (Bazzoni & Cossutta, 2016; Bellafronte, 2003; Biemmi, 2015).…”