Women's and Gender Studies Program at OU

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Graduate Certificate

Thursday, 14 August 2008

A graduate certificate in Women's and Gender Studies was recently approved by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. Students may enroll in the certificate program beginning in the fall 2009.

Students wishing to pursue the Graduate Certificate in Women's and Gender Studies who are already enrolled in the OU Graduate College should send a letter to the Women's and Gender Studies Graduate Committee outlining their goals and how the graduate certificate will enhance their program of study. The letter should be signed by both the student and her/his major professor or department head. After acceptance, the student will meet with the graduate liaison or a member of the graduate committee to select those courses most congruent with their program of study.

Students who are not already enrolled in the OU Graduate College should begin by applying to the Graduate College. Their website is http://gradweb.ou.edu/.

Click here: For Graduate Certificate Application materials.

The purpose of the graduate certificate program is to provide an interdisciplinary graduate education which will broaden and/or give specialty focus to students’ Women’s and Gender studies. The program may particularly signify a student’s focus on one or more of the following: feminist scholarship, research or creative activity in a particular field of study; teaching interdisciplinary Women’s and Gender Studies; or professional public service for/to women/girls/sexual minorities. The graduate certificate will augment and provide formal recognition to students’ work in this area, thereby enhancing their success in the academic and professional job markets.

Students matriculating for a graduate degree in any college at the University of Oklahoma may pursue the Women’s and Gender Studies Graduate Certificate to broaden or to give specialty-focus to their graduate programs. Students may also enroll directly in the Graduate Certificate in Women's and Gender Studies program. Any Women’s and Gender Studies faculty member who holds an M1, M2 or M3 Graduate Faculty status through the Graduate College may serve as the student’s graduate W&GS advisor, as academically relevant to the particular program of study. The Women’s and Gender Studies Graduate Certificate may particularly signify a student’s focus on one or more of the following: a.) feminist scholarship, research or creative activity in a particular field of study; b.) teaching interdisciplinary Women’s and Gender Studies; or c.) professional public service for/to women/girls/sexual minorities.

Hours required for the graduate certificate:	13
Number of hours in general education:	0
Number of hours in graduate certificate core:	4
Number of hours in option:	0
Number of hours in guided electives:	9
Number of hours in general electives:	0

Required Core Classes (4 hours): WS 5001 Women's and Gender Studies Colloquium (1 hour) Discussion and review of the major debates and literature in the field with an emphasis on feminist research methods and approaches. Students will be exposed to approaches to women's and gender studies in such major disciplines as anthropology, sociology, political science, education, English, history, communication, human relations, modern languages, etc. WS 5123 Contemporary Feminist Thought (3 hours) This course offers a survey of the core concepts and texts of feminist theory. It is intended to expose students to the major works in feminist theory, as well as critiques and scholarly analysis of them. It begins with a discussion of the roots of feminist theory, focusing in particular on the public/private dichotomy in liberal political theory and its implcations for women. It then moves on to an examination of the majot works and disputes within the first, second and third waves of American (and to a lesser extent European) liberal feminism. The second part of the course treats alternatives to liberal feminist thought beginning with the Marx and existential feminism and moving to radical, cultural and multicultural feminism. The third part of the course treats the impact of postmodernism on feminist thought and the rise of global feminism.

Elective Specialty (9 hours)

Nine credit hours (minimum) selected from the following courses approved for graduate study in Women's and Gender Studies or other courses as approved by the graduate committee to make a coherent program of study relevant to the student's major:


ANTH	5263	Feminist Anthropology
ANTH	5305	Women and Development in Africa
A HI	5663	Women in Contemporary Art
A HI	5853	American Indian Women Artists
COMM	5810	Communications in the Public Sphere
COMM	6970	Seminar in Feminist Scholarship
EDS	5833	Gender, Values and Education
EDS	5933	Girls, Women and Educational Studies
ENGL	5243	Women Writers
ENGL	5253	Transatlantic Women Writers
ENGL	5263	British Women Writers
ENGL	5273	Anglophone Writers
ENGL	5283	American Women Writers
ENGL	5473	Women's Rhetoric and Writing Practices
ENGL	5813	Blackness, Coloniality, Gender
HIST	5110/6110	Medieval Women
H R	5473	Women and Mental Health
H R	5513	Marriage and Family Therapy
H R	5713	Women, Work and the Family
H R	5723	Sexism and Homophobia
H R	5743	Violence Against Women and Children
JMC	5853	Race, Gender and the Media
MUSC	5970	Music and Gender
S WK	5143	Models for Gender and Culturally Sensitive Practice
SOC	5723	Sociology of Family
SOC	5733	Sociology of Gender
SOC	6373	Special Topics in the Family
SOC	6843	Seminar in Fertility
W S	5013	Internship
W S	5120	Interdisciplinary Course in Women's Studies
W S	5960	Directed Reading

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 06 October 2009 )

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