Program Overview

The Program

The Graduate Certificate in Advanced Feminist Studies is an interdisciplinary program designed to broaden and enrich disciplinary scholarship for students enrolled in a master’s or doctoral degree-granting program. The purpose of the certificate is to enable students interested in feminist scholarship to pursue a coherent, integrated curriculum in the field and to credential them as knowledgeable in Feminist Studies, thus qualifying them for positions requiring such expertise. Students work closely with faculty and associated faculty from Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies and with a faculty advisor from their degree-granting discipline. Students completing the certificate will have the opportunity to bring a feminist perspective to bear on the practices and ideas of their own discipline, thereby increasing the body of feminist theory and research.

Admission to the certificate program is contingent upon: 1) prior acceptance to the Graduate School of the University into a graduate degree-granting program; or 2) after completion of a graduate degree and acceptance to the Graduate School as a non-degree student.

The candidate should demonstrate a commitment to, and evidence of, research or organizational experience in feminist concerns. Knowledge of feminist scholarship is expected, but an undergraduate major in Women’s Studies is not required.

Requirements

The program consists of the following requirements:

A. Two core Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies courses:

1. WOMENSST 791B-Feminist Theory or an equivalent theory course: A background in theory is required for admission and, in addition, these Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies courses are foundational core requirements. Course content explores paradigms of feminist theory from the interaction of race, class, gender, and sexuality in a national and/or global perspective. WOMENSST 791B is offered fall semester only.

2. WOMENSST 691B-Issues in Feminist Research Seminar: A methods seminar that includes readings on questions of feminist methodology and ethics of research. This course is restricted to certificate students and offered spring semester only.

B. Two interdisciplinary electives, one from each of the following categories:

1. Feminist Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Approaches: This elective exposes students to disciplinary coursework that focuses on women, gender, and/or sexuality, and is guided by feminist analysis.

2. Transnational/Critical Race Feminisms: This requirement exposes students to the critical importance of anti-racist politics to feminism, and further accommodates the inclusion of transnationalism, critical race studies and sexuality studies into the field of inquiry.

C. A Final Research Project:

WOMENSST 793A: In addition to the coursework, all certificate students must complete a Final Research Project. A committee of two faculty mentors must be named and a research prospectus submitted for approval to the Graduate Certificate Program Director before starting work on the final research project. Once approved, students are expected to work independently with their committee members while the project is supervised by the Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies Graduate Program Director.

Research project options include but are not limited to a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation, a publishable research paper or project of outstanding quality, a book chapter, a performance or multimedia presentation. Whatever the field of study, the research paper must be interdisciplinary and focus on the intersection of race, class, gender, sexuality and, if relevant, transnational issues. It can be developed from: a) a paper submitted to meet one of the core requirements; b) prior research; c) a practicum or other project.

The project is evaluated by the student's committee. A final copy of the research project is to be filed with the Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies Department. Students present their final project at a public colloquium during the spring semester.

Courses are offered and coordinated by core, adjunct, and affiliated graduate faculty of the Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies Program. The Associate Director is available for advising and the Graduate Program Director provides supervision of research.

For further information, contact the Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies Program, 208 Bartlett Hall, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, tel.: (413) 545-1922; fax: (413) 545-1500; website: www.umass.edu/wost; and email: womens-studies@wost.umass.edu.