feminist foreign policy course

Since 2014, 16 countries have either adopted or committed to adopting Feminist Foreign Policies. However, a lot more needs to be done in prioritizing feminism in feminist foreign policies. While some have chosen to continue dispensing aid, some chose to add women and stir.

Instead of choosing to engage with feminist values and focusing on intersectionality and peace, these policies continued to normalize “feminism-lite” agendas. In reality, women and non-binary people in the global south have been "doing" feminist foreign policy for generations now. Movements ranging from resisting colonialism to practicing food sovereignty, from inclusive lawmaking to deploying international law in pushing for their rights - the wealth of knowledge embodied in praxis in the majority world must be centered.

This course recognizes these gaps and takes a deep dive into the field to build strong understandings of Feminist Foreign Policy as a concept. It offers a comprehensive overview of feminist foreign policies as they exist, presents the building blocks of such policies, and presents lessons from rich examples from the majority world.

program overview

  • ✺

    session 1

    understand how feminist foreign policies are defined, practiced, understood, and critiqued and develop a critical lens to evaluate feminist foreign policies.

  • ✺

    session 2

    understand the relation between power and the state, which underpins contemporary international relations, and informs state-led feminist foreign policies.

  • ✺

    session 3

    understand the nexus between gender and the state, and in international relations, to unpack how feminist foreign policies are currently built and implemented.

  • ✺

    session 4

    explore building blocks for feminist foreign policy from the majority world that can bring the transformative potential of truly feminist foreign policies alive.

  • ✺

    session 5

    learn from real-life examples of transformative feminist foreign policies in practice, drawn across time and space, from the breadth of the majority world.

  • ✺

    session 6

    move toward implementing learnings from the program into action through the use of tools and approaches to build and implement feminist foreign policies.

course details

the course will be offered online via Zoom, over six sessions. to accommodate different learning paces and preferences, the course is offered over a fortnight (six sessions with a day or two in between) and over six weeks (one session a week). participants are welcome to pick the option that best suits them.

*the program runs from the ist zone, and we do our best to accommodate as many time zones as we can at a time. the program is also delivered in english. we are a small organisation that is not equipped with the resources for interpretation yet, but we are getting there slowly!

we follow a redistributive pricing model to ensure equity for facilitators and participants alike. we offer a sliding-scale fee structure, and invite you to introspect on your positionality before determining the category you select. we don't ask for proof: We trust your story!

  • ​Senior professionals with institutional support to pay for the course: INR 20,000 / GBP 200 

  • Self-employed professionals / Individuals without institutional support to pay for the course: INR 15,000 / GBP 150

  • Early career professionals (within 3 years of graduation): INR 10,000 / GBP 100

  • Students and unemployed individuals: INR 5000 / GBP 50

  • Full scholarship for 6 places per cohort.

    we encourage live participation in our course for a wholesome experience. but we also respect that the timing won't work for all time zones, and that life happens, which may make live participation challenging. we provide recordings that can be accessed online for up to 1 month. all participants receive certificates for completion.  we don’t have homework, but we do offer recommended reading, viewing, and listening resources that you can come back to at any time.

Upcoming batches

February-March, 2025

Batch 1: Mondays, 3 PM to 5 PM IST
Dates: February 17 & 24, March 3, 10, 17, and 24, 2025
Batch 2: Thursdays, 3 PM to 5 PM IST
Dates: February 20 & 27, March 6, 13, 20, and 27, 2025

April-May, 2025

Batch 1: Mondays, 3 to 5 PM IST
Dates: April 7, 14, 21 & 28, May 5, 12, 2025
Batch 2: Thursdays, 3 to 5 PM IST
Dates: April 3, 10, 17 & 24, May 1 & 8, 2025

✺ Frequently asked questions ✺

  • not at all! we welcome anyone with an interest in the field - regardless of your level of prior knowledge, this course will offer a good grounding in an approach to feminist foreign policy.

  • absolutely. we do record sessions and make recordings available for a month after the course ends. we highly recommend live participation to engage in the activities - but we fully understand if you cannot attend live!

  • sorry, at the moment, we are only able to offer it in english. we’re a small initiative, but the hope is that we get to a point where we can offer simultaneous interpretation.

  • we most certainly can - write to us via email to know more.

  • the course invites you to come as you are: our intent is for this course to fit your life rather than the other way around. participants in the past told us they spent a minimum of 2.5 hours (live session duration) to a maximum of 5 hours (covering readings and other recommended resources) per session.

  • this might depend on your university. in the past, a few participants received credits from their universities, while some did not. we’re happy to give you a letter attesting to your completion, either way!