GRADUATE PROGRAMS
Our program is a path-breaking interdisciplinary approach to the study of gender, sexuality, race and class. As the interdisciplinary practice of feminist scholarship, Women’s Studies envisions alternatives to social structures, institutions, ideologies, relationship, and interrogates perceptions of gender in traditional academic disciplines.
The M.A. program in Women’s Studies has three interrelated areas of concentration: globalization, sexuality studies and social change. Globalization and transnationalisms are themes that run throughout many of our courses as well as our faculty research.
Some of our current projects include: institutionalization of feminism and Women’s Studies in post-dictatorship Chile, the neo-orientalist character of the sheikh in contemporary mass market romance novels, applied women’s studies and womanism in Liberia, and sexuality and gender within folk narratives and mass media representations of ghosts and spirits in Thailand.
Our sexuality studies program stands out in its emphasis on race, ethnicity, and globalization. We have a strong emphasis on queer theory and LGBTQ studies as well as the theory and practice of activism and the study of gender and class.
Our graduate students come from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, including humanities (such as English and history), social sciences (such as psychology, sociology and anthropology) and professional fields (such as social work and education).
Graduate students can either earn an M.A. in Women’s Studies, or a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies.
Globalization
Courses include:
- Gender and Globalization
- Global Perspectives on Violence against Women
- Gender in Cross-cultural Perspective
- Women in Africa
- Class Matters
- Arab and Islamic Feminisms
Sexuality Studies
Courses Include:
- Feminism and Queer Theory
- Feminism and Foucault
- Sexuality and Gender in Southeast Asia
- Lesbian and Gay African-American Activism
Social Change
Courses Include:
- Activism: History and Theory
- Family Violence and Criminal Justice
- Black Feminist Thought
- Womanism
Master of Arts (M.A.)
The Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in Women’s Studies Prepares students for doctoral work in Women’s Studies and other disciplines, as well as preparing students for careers in non-profits organizations, governmental employment, and private enterprises.
Earning an M.A. in Women’s Studies at Georgia State University enhances one’s chances of being accepted into a top ranked Ph.D. program. Our graduates have earned scholarships and entered Ph.D. and professional programs, including programs at the University of Maryland, Emory University, University of Minnesota and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Students in our program are able to develop expertise in both theory and research methodology, which are great assets as one enters a Ph.D. program. The M.A. in Women’s Studies also prepares students and strengthens applications for professional programs, such as law school.
Our graduates have also distinguished themselves in careers in non-profit organizations, including founding non-profits such as Dia de la Mujer Latina, which promotes Latina health care, and Rachel’s Daughters, which is a pregnancy prevention program that provides after-school tutoring and activities for inner-city high-risk teens.
Our students have a wide range of research interests, reflecting the diversity of the field of women’s studies. Some recent M.A. thesis projects by women’s studies students are as follows:
Goolsby, Julie, “A Manifest Cyborg: Laurie Anderson and Technology” (2006).
Chenault, Wesley, “Working the Margins: Women in the Comic Book Industry” (2006).
McCord, Mary Larken, “’So Very Fetch’: Constructing Girls on Film in the Era of Girl Power and Girls in Crisis” (2008)
Gradney, Alysia A., “Mason Jar Project: An Exploratory Look at the Ways in Which the Mammy Figure has Shaped Both Social and Cultural Understandings of the Contemporary Fat Black Female Body in America” (2008).
Here is a complete listing of the WSI’s M.A. graduates and thesis topics.
Student Organizations
The Women’s Studies Institute sponsors several student organizations, including Faces of Feminism, S.P.E.A.K., and BlackOut
Internships
Students have an opportunity to work with local community and activist organizations.
Community Organization Directory
Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies
The study of women, gender, and sexuality in their multiple racial and class dimensions and cultural contexts is a growing field of inquiry in many disciplines. More and more jobs are framed with an expectation of some background in feminist analysis. As an endeavor that is both interdisciplinary and international in outlook, the Women’s Studies Institute contributes not only to the education of its own graduate students but also to that of students in other departments, colleges, and schools of Georgia State University. As such a contribution, the Institute offers a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies.
This certificate program allows interested students to receive explicit acknowledgment of their work in Women’s Studies. Some may simply want recognition of a strength reflected in their course of study. Others may wish to pursue employment for which such a certificate is deemed an advantage.
Requirements:
A Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies is available to eligible graduate students who successfully complete four graduate courses in Women’s Studies. “Successful completion” means a grade of B or higher in each. Two of those must be WSt 8001, WSt 8002, WSt 8003, or WSt 8004. The other two courses must be drawn from courses bearing a WSt prefix, and only one course can originate from the student's home department.
Student Eligibility:
All students seeking the WSI Graduate Certificate must submit a formal application through the Office of Graduate Studies of the College of Arts and Sciences. Applications are accepted three times per year: July 1 (for Fall semester), November 15 (for Spring semester), and May 1 (for Summer semester). Students may apply online, using the standard online Graduate Application, or they may submit a paper application.
The following individuals are eligible:
- Students who are enrolled in an M.A. or Ph.D. program in another department or institute at Georgia State University -- such students must apply, but existing materials on file can be used for the application and the application fee will be waived. Such students should download a paper application (since you are required to pay the application fee if you apply online). Complete the paper application form and take it to the Office of Graduate Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, 75 Poplar Street (Haas-Howell Building), Suite 800, Atlanta, GA 30303.
- Students in the Women's Studies Institute M.A. degree program who are unable to complete the program and who have completed the requisite coursework -- such students must submit a short application available from the Office of Graduate Studies and pay the requisite fee. To obtain the short application form, contact the Office of Graduate Studies at 404-413-5038.
Students who apply only for the Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies -- such students must submit a complete application and pay the requisite fee. Such students should apply online.