KU: Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program

The Graduate Certificate Program in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies is designed to provide students with a focused program of study of women and gender, and to provide certification of the completion of the program on a graduate transcript. Students may enroll in the Program either as a stand alone program or in combination with a graduate degree program in another department. A graduate certificate in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies may be particularly appealing to students in the humanities, social sciences, or science who seek academic employment in interdisciplinary women’s studies programs, perhaps in addition to a main appointment in their home discipline. It would also be useful for those who currently work with or hope to work with women’s organizations or in supervisory capacities in business or government.

The KU Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Graduate Certificate requires 12 hours of coursework including: WS 801: Women and Gender Studies: Theory and methods (3 hours); two three-hour electives chosen from the list at the end of this document, from two different disciplines; and WS 898: Research Colloquium (3 hours). All students in the Graduate Certificate program will be assigned an advisor to assist the student in selecting from among the electives and to serve as an outside reader of the capstone paper required in WS 898. Below is a brief description of the required Women’s Studies courses.

WS 801: Women and Gender Studies: Theory and methods (3 hours)
This course will be an intensive interdisciplinary overview of the major theories and research approaches in literature on women and gender. The topics covered will include the following: 1. An overview of feminist theories; 2. An overview of how feminist theories can be integrated with research methods in various disciplines; 3. Examples of applications of feminist theories and methods to specific content areas. The course will be taught every Fall semester beginning in 2002, and will be open only to graduate students.

WS 898: Research colloquium (3 hours)
This course is the capstone to the Graduate Certificate program. In this colloquium the members of the seminar will produce a major paper and will share their research. During the first part of the term a small number of visitors (Professors at KU and/or visiting speakers from other universities) will be invited to assign readings and subsequently present their work on women and gender. This course will be coordinated by a member of the Women’s Studies faculty. Students will be expected to attend the Gender Seminar of the Hall Center for the Humanities, and the instructor of WS 898 will coordinate with the Director of the Gender Seminar to make optimal use of the Gender Seminar.
Prerequisite: WS 801 and at least 3 hours of other graduate work in the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies graduate certificate program, or by special permission.

Admissions Procedure
There are two ways to be admitted to the WGSS Graduate Certificate Program.

Students must be accepted into the School of Research and Graduate Studies, whether as a student in a specific department (graduate program) or as a non-degree seeking student.

Students who are already enrolled in a graduate program at KU, or who have just been accepted into a graduate program at KU, and who wish to be admitted also to the WGSS Graduate Certificate Program should write a letter to the WGSS Graduate Director stating their interest in the WGSS Graduate Certificate Program; and with that letter they should submit a current ARTS form. A graduate GPA of 3.0 or higher is required.

Students not yet enrolled in a graduate program at KU must be accepted into the School of Research and Graduate Studies, whether to a specific department (graduate program) or non-degree seeking. To be accepted, students will complete an application to the Graduate School and send an application fee of $30, two copies of official transcripts from all previous post-secondary educational institutions, a personal statement of the student's interest in the WGSS Graduate Certificate Program, and two letters of recommendation from persons familiar with their academic work or potential for graduate school. Minimum requirements will be a bachelor's degree with a GPA of 3.0 or higher is normally required for admission, but the GPA requirement may be waived at the discretion of the Graduate Director.

All letters to the WGSS Graduate Director should be addressed to:

Professor John G. Younger
Director of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
213E Bailey Hall
1440 Jayhawk Blvd.
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045
(785) 864-2311
jyounger@ku.edu

Faculty contributing to Certificate Program

Currently there are seven 0.5 FTE permanent faculty, each with a joint appointment in another department of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and a 1.0 FTE permanent faculty appointment. Their names, ranks, and other departments are as follows:

Omofolabo Ajayi-Soyinka, Associate Professor, Theatre and Film
Hannah Britton, Associate Professor, Political Science
Tanya Hart, Assistant Professor, American Studies
Charlene Muehlenhard, Professor, Psychology
Ann Schofield, Professor, American Studies
Akiko Takeyama, Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Marta Vicente, Assistant Professor, History
John Younger, Professor of Classics, Director of Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies

Additionally, there is a Graduate Faculty composed of faculty members from related disciplines. These faculty teach the courses that carry graduate credit toward the Graduate Certificate, and may serve as advisors to students in the Program.

Elective Courses, a selection (other courses may be approved by the Graduate Director)

Course #	Course Title
WS 510/AMS 510/	History of American Women
HIST 530	Colonial Times to 1870
WS 511/AMS511	History of American Women
HIST 531	1870-Present
WS 512/AMS 512/HIST 532	History of Women and Work in Comparative Perspective
WS 520	Women and Violence
WS 549/HIST 649	History of Feminist Theory
WS 560/AAAS 560	Race, Gender, & Post-Colonial Discourse
WS 562/POLS 562	Women and Politics
WS 580/ANTH 580	Feminism & Anthropology
WS 583/ANTH 583	Love, Sex, and Globalization
WS 600/POLS 600	Contemporary Feminist Political Theory
WS 646/HIST 646	Witches in European History and Historiography
WS 651/POLS 651	Women and Politics in Latin America
WS 653/POLS 653	Gender, War, and Peace
WS 660/ANTH 660	Human Reproductions: Culture, Power & Politics
WS 665/ANTH 665/ LAAS 665	Women, Health & Healing in Latin America
WS 689/PSYCH 689	Conceptual Issues in Human Sexuality
WS 696	Conceptual Issues in Human Sexuality
WS 701	Graduate Seminar
WS 789/ANTH 789	Anthropology of Gender: Advanced Seminar in the Four Fields
WS 797	Directed Readings
WS 801	Women and Gender: Theory & Methods
WS 837	Comparative Colloquium in Women's History
WS 873	Research Seminar in U.S Women's History
WS 898	Research Colloquium
AAAS 520	Women & Islam
AAAS 520	Muslim Women's Autobiography
AAAS 520	Studies in: African Women Writers
AAAS 520	Studies in: Popular African Fiction: Gender, Sex, and Romance
AAAS 545	Unveiling the Veil
AAAS 598	Sexuality and Gender in African History
AAAS 657	Gender in Islam and Society
AMS 696	Studies in: American Women During World War II
COMS 552	Rhetoric of Women's Rights
COMS 559	Women as Political Communicators
COMS 930	Seminar in Speech: Gender Issues in Organization
COMS 930	Seminar in Speech: Women as Political Communicators
EALC 575	Love, Sexuality & Gender in Japanese Lit.
ENGL 572	Women and Literature
ENGL 572	Women and Literature: Feminist Criticism/Women's Texts
ENGL 572	Women's Autobiography & Bildungsroman
ENGL 620	Queen Elizabeth I
ENGL 709	Feminist Theory/Women's Texts
ENGL 970	Seminar in Comp. Theory, Feminism Comp. Studies
ENGL 970	Seminar in American Literature: Edith Wharton & Willa Cather
ENGL 970	Seminar in American Lit. 19th Cen. Women Writers
HA 505	Special Study: Women/Modern Art
HA 533	Europe 1789-1848: Gender and Revolution
HIST 510	Women in Latin America
HIST 532/AMS 512	History of Women and Work in Comparative Perspective
HIST 533	History of Women & Family in Europe: 1500 to Present
HIST 598	Sexuality & Gender in African History
HIST 608	History of Sexuality
HIST 609	History of Women and Reform in the U.S.
HIST 896	Colloquium in U.S. Women's History
HIST 973	Seminar in U.S. Women's History
HPM 850	Women and Health Care
HSCA 620	Issues in Women's Health Care & Health Care
PHIL 504	Philosophy of Sex and Love
PHIL 671	Feminist Theories in Ethics
PSYC 690	Studies in: Human Sexuality, Scientific and Cultural Perspectives
PSYC 993	Intergroup Relations
REL 602	Special Topics in Religion: Women in Islam
REL 602	Special Topics in Religion: Sex and Gender Roman Catholic Tradition
REL 672	Mother as Religious Metaphor
REL 677	Women in Christianity
REL 777	Seminar in Religion and Gender
REL 875	Women & Religion
REL 877	Seminar on Women and Religion
SOC 535	Gender in the Global Context
SOC 601	Introduction to Feminist Social Thought? or Theory?
SOC 617	Women & Health Care
SOC 623	Women & Work
SOC 682	Sociology of Family
SOC 722	Sociology of Gender
SOC 780	Women of the Third World
SOC 780	Adv. Topics: Gender and Social Policy
SOC 808	Feminist Theories
SOC 826	Gender and Social Policy
SOC 970	Ethnicity and Sexuality
SW 874	Social Work Practice with Women
Th & F 702	Representation of Race, Class, & Gender in Visual Culture
Th & F 702	As She Sees It: Women Filmmakers Since WWII
TH & F 702	International Women Filmmakers