Graduate Program
Our Master's program in Women's Studies began Fall of 1997.
The MA in Women's Studies requires the completion of 36 credit
hours and has two tracks, a research option that requires a thesis and an applied
option that requires an internship and subsequent analytic report on the internship
experience. This format was designed to serve the needs of a variety of different
categories of students desiring a graduate degree in Women's Studies. The thesis
option is recommended for students who intend to go on to pursue a doctoral degree
either in Women's Studies or in a disciplinary field. The internship option is recommended
for students who seek the M.A. as a terminal degree.
Admission Requirements:
Applicants should submit a Personal Narrative/Statement of Purpose that details
their academic preparation, background, experience in women's studies and feminism,
and what they intend to do with the M.A. in women's studies. They should also submit
a sample of their written work and three letters of recommendation.
Ideally, applicants will have an undergraduate degree in Women's Studies or present
evidence of a strong background in the field. Applicants without training in Women's
Studies, who otherwise meet the requirements for admission, may be asked to take
additional undergraduate courses prior to admission to the graduate program.
Students may enroll in graduate courses as a non-degree seeking student without
formal application to the M.A. program if they obtain permission from the graduate
director. Students subsequently accepted into the M.A. program may transfer up to
12 hours taken as a non-degree seeking student toward fulfilling M.A. degree requirements.
Application forms and documents should be sent to the Office of Graduate Admissions.
The Personal Narrative, writing sample, and letters of reference should be sent
to the Graduate Advisor, Department of Women's Studies.
Program Requirements:
The M.A. in Women's Studies requires the completion of thirty-six credit hours..
These hours are divided as follows:
- Four of the following five core courses are required (12 cr. hrs.): Feminist Research
and Methodology; Advanced Feminist Theory; Feminist Challenges to Traditional Paradigms.
Women of Color/ Activism and Social Change; Scholarship and Pedagogy in Women's
Studies.
- Elective courses (18 cr. hrs.) to be selected from
- courses offered by the Department of Women's Studies, up to six cr. hrs. of which
may be 4000-level courses,
- graduate courses on women and issues surrounding the intersection of gender/class/race
offered by other departments,
- No more than one other graduate-level course approved by the graduate director.
- Thesis option. Six credit hours of thesis research, typically over two semesters,
during which the student will complete a Master's thesis on the approved topic.
Or,
- Non-thesis option. Two semesters (6 cr. Hrs.) of internship experience in a human
services agency or other institution or organization that deals primarily with women.
The internship will be approved by a faculty committee. The student will be required
to write a narrative report describing the internship in detail and analyzing the
experience in terms of appropriate theoretical frameworks.
For application materials write, call, or fax the
Graduate School, BEH 304, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620.
Tel. (813) 974-8800; FAX (813) 974-7343.
For further information concerning the Women's Studies Department and the M.A. Program
contact:
Jennifer Ellerman
Email: jellerma@mail.usf.edu
Phone: 974-5520