Gender Studies targets young researchers, who would like to acquire an interdisciplinary, systematic knowledge of gender theory and its applications. The program includes courses on gender sociology, contemporary psychoanalysis, gender representation in the visual arts, qualitative methods in social studies, the philosophy of M. Foucault, feminist political theory, gender technology in post-Soviet mass-media, feminist criticism of the concepts of human rights, and the sociology of gender in post-Soviet society. Research priorities include: gender and nation; feminist philosophy; gender and the visual arts; gender and mass communication; the history of gender; studies in masculinity; gender and contemporary information technologies; and gender relationships in post-Soviet society.
Visual and Cultural Studies is a new interdisciplinary area, which is emerging at the intersection of philosophy, cultural theory, sociology, and the arts. Its central theme is the study of the post-modern mass media. Visual culture today dominates the whole cultural sphere, encompassing such contrasting phenomena as cinema, design, television, photography, conceptual art, public art, and advertising. The multitude of visual practices determines the numerous artistic approaches to analysis, from semiotics and psychoanalysis to critical theory and post-structuralism. The course has no counterpart in Belarus or the entire post-Soviet region. In addition to fundamental theoretical knowledge, students acquire skills in working with cinematic and photographic equipment as well as the processing of images with computer applications.
