Women's and Gender Studies

Pauline Jewett Institute of Women's and Gender Studies
1501 Dunton Tower
Tel.: 613-520-6645
carleton.ca/womensstudies

M.A. Women's and Gender Studies

About the Program

The Pauline Jewett Institute of Women's and 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 Ph.D. level. There are four learning objectives of the programme with regard to our students, as well as four objectives for the wider community. Feminist Scholarship, Critical Skills, Interdisciplinarity, and Grounded Knowledges.

Academic Regulations

See the General Regulations section of this Calendar.

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 M.A. thesis and its oral defence.

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Admission Requirements

The minimum requirement for admission to the M.A. program in Women's and Gender Studies is a B.A. 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 M.A. 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.

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Program Requirements

The M.A. 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 5909 [2.0] M.A. 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 5908 [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:

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.

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