Women’s Studies Graduate Certificate

Cheryl Brown Travis, Psychology, Chair

The women’s studies program offers a graduate certificate, enabling students to develop critical thinking about the economic, social, and legal factors influencing women’s roles in contemporary and historical societies and to evaluate chose roles in the widest possible perspectives. Students may examine representations of women in the arts and the media, evaluate how science and medicine view women as objects of study, and study how women work as practitioners and researchers in these fields.

The program is designed to provide a supplementary perspective for students already enrolled in graduate programs, to provide an entry into graduate study for those who are exploring a number of disciplinary approaches, to provide enrichment for members of the community who have a bachelor’s or an advanced degree, and to develop skills for professionals in various fields.

Prospective candidates for the certificate may take up to 6 hours of certificate classes before making application for admission to the certificate program. Once admitted to the program, they must maintain a GPA of at least 3.0. Application to the certificate program must be made by contacting the Office of Graduate Admissions and by submitting a letter of application and copies of undergraduate transcripts (and graduate transcripts, if applicable) to the Chair of the Women’s Studies Program. A minimum of 15 hours is required. All courses must be selected in consultation with a program advisor, who must approve all courses for individual students prior to their being taken, except that, as noted above, up to 6 hours may be accepted from candidates upon admission.

Requirements
Students will satisfy the requirements of the certificate program by selecting 15 hours from the following lists, provided that those courses are selected in consultation with a program advisor, who approves their selection. A certificate cannot be earned without program approval by the advisor.

• WOST 510 .
   
• 12 additional hours drawn from at least two different disciplines. For students enrolled in an MA program, no more than two of the certificate courses may be drawn from that program or the department in which the MA program is housed. Students are encouraged to select from courses at the 500 level and above. Students may choose from the following list – CSE 512 , CSE 548 , CSE 609 ; ENGL 584 ; LAW 849 , LAW 862 , LAW 958 ; SPST 543 ; WOST 400 , WOST 422 , WOST 434 , WOST 469 , WOST 510 , WOST 543 , WOST 548 , WOST 593 , WOST 609 .
   
• A capstone experience such as presenting research results to a professional group, submitting a work for publication, arranging an exhibit, or presenting a performance to a group approved by the individual advisor and the chair of Women’s Studies.