Women's Studies
Dunton Tower 1501
Telephone: 613-520-6645
Fax: 613-520-2622
carleton.ca/womensstudies
The Institute
Director: Katharine Kelly
The MA in Women's and Gender Studies is pending approval by the Ontario Council on Graduate Studies (OCGS).
The Pauline Jewett Institute of Women's & Gender Studies offers programs of study leading to the degree of Master of Arts. The Master of Arts program in Women's and Gender Studies provides advanced training in feminist scholarship. It will be of interest to students seeking to acquire the critical skills to explore gender as a social relation of power, to conduct advanced feminist research and to those students seeking a foundational graduate degree upon which to build their expertise in order to pursue research at the PhD level.
There are four learning objectives of the program with regard to our students, as well as four objectives for the wider community. Feminist Scholarship, Critical Skills, Interdisciplinarity, and Grounded Knowledges.
The Program
The Master of Arts program in Women's and Gender Studies provides advanced training in feminist scholarship. It will be of interest to students seeking to acquire the critical skills to explore gender as a social relation of power, to conduct advanced feminist research and to those students seeking a foundational graduate degree upon which to build their expertise in order to pursue research at the PhD level. There are four learning objectives of the program with regard to our students, as well as four objectives for the wider community. Feminist Scholarship, Critical Skills, Interdisciplinarity, and Grounded Knowledges.
Admission Requirements
The minimum requirement for admission to the MA program in Women's and Gender Studies is a BA Honours degree in Women's and Gender Studies or related areas with high honours standing. Students who have completed a degree with a significant focus on gender and gender-related coursework from disciplines including Sociology, History, English, Philosophy, Anthropology, Canadian Studies and Political Science, for example, will be considered for admission to the program. Applicants without the requisite background may be required to take a maximum of 2.0 credits from designated courses at the undergraduate level in Women's and Gender Studies in addition to their normal MA program requirements.
Qualifying Year Program
Applicants without a B.A. Honours degree in Women's and Gender Studies but who have a three year degree with a Women's and Gender Studies major, minor or a degree in a related discipline with a minimum average of B+ will be required to complete successfully a qualifying year of full-time study, before proceeding to apply to the Master's program. At this time, the Institute will determine the student's eligibility to enter the program.
Program Requirements
The MA degree in Women's and Gender Studies requires the satisfactory completion of 5.0 credits, distributed according to one of the following two options (students are not required to choose one option over the other until the end of the first year of study):
Option I: Course work + Thesis
- 2.0 credits of required course work:
- 1.0 credit in WGST 5905 [1.0]
- 0.5 credit in WGST 5906
- 0.5 credit in WGST 5907
-
1.0 credit of additional course work chosen from available elective courses (see below)
- 2.0 credits WGST 5903 [2.0] MA Thesis
Option II: Course work + Research Essay
- 2.0 credits of required course work:
- 1.0 credit in WGST 5905 [1.0]
- 0.5 credit in WGST 5906
- 0.5 credit in WGST 5907
- 2.0 credits of additional course work chosen from available elective courses (see below)
- 1.0 credit WGST 5904 [1.0] Research Essay
Elective courses
Electives may be taken from a selection of courses offered outside the program in a related discipline, subject to the approval of the Graduate Supervisor.
Elective courses may include but are not limited to:
- PHIL 5350, PHIL 5304, PHIL 5800, PHIL 5500
- HIST 6903, HIST 5708, HIST 5803, HIST 5804
- PADM 5213, PADM 5701
- PSYC 5001, PSYC 5201
- PSCI 6301, PSCI 5200, PSCI 5506, PSCI 5607, PSCI 5205
- SOCI 5809
- WGST 5000, WGST 5001
Progress through the program
The first year of study is essentially the same for all full-time students entering the program regardless of whether their intention is to pursue the thesis or the research essay option (a schedule for part-time students is outlined below): all full-time students will be expected to complete the core feminist theory and methodologies courses in the first year (typically WGST 5906 will be offered in the fall term and WGST 5907 in the winter); WGST 5905 ; and, a further 1.0 credit chosen from among those electives on offer that year.
At the end of the winter term of the first year of study, and in consultation with the Graduate Supervisor, full-time students will be required to declare their intention to pursue the thesis option or to complete additional courses and a research essay. The deadline for this decision will normally be in writing on or before April 1st. In the fall of the second year of study, all full-time students will be expected to submit a research proposal that has been approved by their thesis or research essay supervisor or committee. The deadline to submit the proposal is September 15. Students pursuing the research essay option will also be required to complete two additional half-course electives. Typically, these courses will be completed in the fall term of the second year. Students will be expected to maintain regular contact with their thesis/research essay supervisor throughout the year to ensure steady progress and a timely completion of their research and writing.
Academic standing
Academic standing of B- or higher must be obtained in each course counted towards the fulfillment of the degree requirements. Candidates must also maintain a CGPA of 9.0 or higher and achieve Satisfactory or better on the MA thesis and its oral defence.
Graduate Courses
Not all of the following courses are offered in a given
year. For an up-to-date statement of course offerings and to
determine the term of offering, consult the class schedule at
central.carleton.ca
- WGST5000 [0.5 credit]
- Issues for Feminist Scholarship
- Selected issues based on the research expertise of the Instructor, designed to provide students with a broad introduction to the diversity of women's experiences within that issue. Critical issues related to race, class, gender and ability.
- WGST5001 [0.5 credit]
- Research Seminar in Women's & Gender Studies
- An examination of the Instructor's research focus (topics will vary from year-to-year) with respect to issues of feminist methodologies and epistemology related to developing and conducting feminist or women-centred research. The focus is interdisciplinary.
- WGST 5901 [0.5 credit]
- Advanced Topics in Women's and Gender Studies: Concepts of Gender
- Cross-cultural perspectives on gender and its meanings, uses and implications. The applications of gender to different fields of knowledge, cultural expression, and institutional regulation. Gender will be interrogated as it intersects with race, class, ethnicity, age, and ability.
- WGST 5902 [0.5 credit]
- Advanced Topics in Women's and Gender Studies
- Selected topics with a focus on issues from the humanities and social sciences. Topics may include: gender, power and social inequalities; women's writing; gender history; gender, sexuality and music embodiment; race, gender and imperialism; gender, criminology and criminal justice; queer theory; transnational feminisms.
- WGST 5903 [2.0 credit]
- MA Thesis
- A substantial investigation of a topic in Women's & Gender Studies that will be determined in consultation with the Institute. Students will have a primary supervisor selected from within the Institute or from associated Faculty across the University. The candidate will be examined orally on the thesis.
- WGST 5904 [1.0 credit]
- Research Essay
- An examination of an approved topic in an area of specialization of either the Institute faculty or associated faculty from across the University. Students will have a supervisor and a second reader.
- WGST 5905 [1.0 credit]
- Program Seminar
- All MA candidates are required to take part in a seminar in which faculty members and students discuss new work in the field, analyze current issues in Women's and Gender Studies, and pursue topics of professional development. Students will prepare their thesis or research essay proposal in consultation with the course Instructor, faculty members and their peers.
- WGST 5906 [0.5 credit]
- Feminist Theory
- An analysis of contemporary feminist theoretical debates that provides students with competence in the application of a range of theoretical models, and an appreciation of their specific historical contexts and development.
- WGST 5907 [0.5 credit]
- Researching Women's and Gender Issues
- Consideration of a range of research methodologies and approaches relevant to women's and gender studies. In particular, students will examine the impact of gender studies on epistemological and methodological issues in a variety of academic disciplines.
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