Graduate Studies

Interdisciplinary Master's Degree - For the student interested in graduate Women’s Studies, an Interdisciplinary Masters of Arts Degree is obtainable through the Graduate School. Complete graduate course and degree descriptions can be found in the Graduate Bulletin.  The Women's Studies program is expected to take four semesters of full-time study, including the completion of a Master’s Thesis. The student is encouraged to contact the Graduate School early to begin the application process. Typically, the applicant must have an undergraduate GPA of 3.25 or better, a combined GRE score of 1100 or better (verbal and quantitative), three letters of recommendation, and a letter of intent.

Graduate Minor in Women's Studies

Why do a Graduate Minor in Women’s and Gender Studies?
The Graduate Minor in Women's Studies/Gender Studies provides advanced feminist training for students with a variety of academic backgrounds and career plans. Students explore how gender is intrinsic to global, national, and local processes and how these processes As the name "Women's Studies/Gender Studies" indicates, our minor retains the emphasis on women's lives and situations, while also incorporating feminist analyses of masculinity and men's lives and other issues implicit in the study of gender.

Who Should do a Graduate Minor in Women’s Studies?
Students who participate in this graduate minor will likely consider master’s and doctoral research projects linked to topics in Women’s and Gender Studies and to faculty members affiliated with WMST. In addition, students in professional programs such as Law, Agriculture, Business, and Health Sciences could benefit from a feminist analysis of issues within their field of inquiry.

Requirements for the Graduate Minor in Women’s Studies
      A total of 12 hours of course work, nine hours of which must be at the 5000 or above level.
WMST 5700, Feminist Theories and Methods and three electives.
      Students are encouraged to complete at least one independent study (WMST 5975) with a WMST faculty member.
      Work with a WMST faculty member on Plan B paper, Thesis or Dissertation. [Students in professional programs without a culminating writing element can meet this alternatively.]
 

Graduate Degrees in the Disciplines - Many Women’s Studies faculty are members of the Graduate Faculty and are available to serve on students’ graduate committees for theses that involve issues of sex, gender and sexuality.
 

Travel Awards - Women’s Studies graduate students are encouraged to develop professional skills through the presentation of academic papers at professional meetings. The Graduate School as well as the Paul Stock Fund of the College of Arts and Sciences supports graduate students who present papers at professional conferences with small travel awards.
 

Recent Graduates and Thesis Titles:
 

Katy Brown (Su, 2006; Sociology, WMST GA):  “The Demography of Nike, Helena, and Melpomene: A Feminist Socio-Legal Analysis of Athletic Gender Equity via Sports Law.”

Jess Bryski (Su, 2005; Interdisciplinary, WMST GA):  “By Any Means Necessary:  The Social Construction of Masculinity in the Anti-Abortion Movement”

Jennifer Mayer (Sp, 2005; Interdisciplinary): "Mean Girls: A Feminist Re-reading of the Female Rivalry Theme in High Victorian Paintings"

Evelyn Haskell (Sp, 2005; American Studies, WMST GA):  “Japanese American Girl Scouts at Hearth Mountain, Wyoming 1942-45”

Janel Kasper (Sp, 2004, Sociology, WMST GA):  “Cross National Variation in Sex Trafficking Legal Activity:  Prohibitive Legislation, Regulation, and Bureaucratic Actions” RECIPIENT:  Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award from the UW Graduate School