Gender, Space, and Discourse across Borders: Talking Gender in Cyberspace

The possibility of online student collaboration over cyberspace for two groups of students in Australia and Singapore was conceived by JaneMaree Maher at Monash University in Australia in 2005 after hearing a paper given by a colleague that detailed the experience of a three-way cross-country dialogue using flexible learning technologies. A recent visit to the National University of Singapore had elicited the information that a gender studies minor had just been established; on the basis of these two factors, Maher approached NUS gender studies colleagues, and Chng Huang Hoon followed up with enthusiasm. An email correspondence ensued, which established the authors mutual interests as feminist pedagogues in gender, space, and teaching, and they decided to generate a cross-national collaboration within the courses they teach that focus on gender, media, and space in the Australian classroom and language, gender, and feminist practice in the Singapore location. This project offered a unique opportunity for educators and students to engage in cross-national learning in cyberspace. The proximity of Australia and Singapore and the minimal time zone difference facilitated collaboration. This paper examines the possibility of the cyber-classroom as a safe discourse space for all students, but perhaps more specifically for female students.