PhD Program

Located in the Humanities, the Feminist Studies Ph.D. program offers students the opportunity to engage in contemporary debates that interrogate the nature of gender. The department encourages students to reconceive concepts of power, justice, and social relations in innovative ways. The program places great emphasis on interdisciplinary exploration and feminist modes of inquiry that can restructure both theoretical and practical models. Approaching feminist engagement as relevant to the broadening and reassessment of a full range of areas of academic inquiry, the program’s focus is on challenging existing disciplinary boundaries and reconsidering the relationships between knowledge, power, and expertise. We work with problem-based research methodologies that acknowlege and go beyond conventional notions of international and comparative studies. An ongoing concern with epistemology is balanced with an emphasis on problem-based research areas that nourish both intellectual and social transformation.

Conceived as a collaborative, cross-divisional enterprise, the Department’s inaugural cohort started in Fall 2013 and currently enrolls ~20 students. The Feminist Studies Ph.D. draws on the strengths of a range of feminist scholars, departments, and programs across the University. The department maintains close relationships with the departments of Anthropology, Art, History, History of Art and Visual Culture, History of Consciousness, Latin American and Latino Studies, Literature, Politics, Psychology, and Sociology. We are also closely affiliated with the Critical Race & Ethnic Studies program (CRES) and the Science and Justice Research Center (SJRC), which provides a critical forum for emerging scholarship that bridges disciplines from biology and engineering to medicine and law.

The course of study has two objectives: first, to train scholars and teachers; and second, to serve the needs of professionals for careers in areas such as public policy and human rights research and advocacy. This approach to graduate training is designed to attract students with various types of career goals who will benefit from exposure to and collaboration with each other in a vigorous intellectual environment.

The curriculum of the Ph.D. in Feminist Studies is designed to facilitate the production of new knowledge clustered around a larger issue or problem that is epistemological, methodological, and conceptual in nature. The program builds on a longstanding history of structurally-integrated interdisciplinarity and multi-departmental participation.

Ph.D. students will complete most of their coursework during their first two years, including the three required courses on Feminist Theories, Feminist Methodologies, and Disciplining Knowledge. Students focus on preparing their problem-based areas of research and their dissertation prospectus during their third year. Students normally take the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination in their third or fourth year; at this time, they also must demonstrate proficiency in a second language. Six years is the normative time toward completion of the degree.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students who complete the Feminist Studies Graduate Program should emerge with
the following skills, competencies, and knowledge:

1. Feminist Theory and Epistemology: Develop command of feminist theories
   and epistemological approaches
2. Interdisciplinary Methods: Develop command of the interdisciplinary methods
   used in Feminist Studies
3. Research and Scholarly Writing: Develop and complete original and also
   collaborative research projects
   (coursework 202; “B” courses, Qualifying Exam and Ph.D. dissertation)
4. Feminist Pedagogy: Learn feminist pedagogical methods and perspectives
5. Professional competencies: Acquire a second language, grant writing skills, the
   ability to participate in intellectual and p

Degree Requirements

The Ph.D. Requirements in Feminist Studies are as follows:

• Students take a total of twelve graduate courses that will include three required courses and nine additional elective courses.
  • Ph.D. students are expected to take the three core courses (200, 201, 202) during their first two years. FMST 200 and 201 will be taken consecutively in the Fall and Winter quarters of the first year, while FMST 202 will be offered in the Spring of the second year. 
  • Elective courses may be taken in Feminist Studies (FMST) as well as in other departments.
• FMST 290, a 2-unit pedagogy training course, is to be taken prior to and/or in conjunction with the first teaching assistant appointment.
• Throughout the program, students should also enroll in a 2-unit advising course with their faculty advisor or committee chair.
• Students must demonstrate proficiency in a second language prior to Advancement to Candidacy.  
• Students are expected to take the Qualifying Examination by the end of their third year.  The QE consists of a written portion (qualifying essays and dissertation prospectus) and oral examination.
• A revised dissertation prospectus is due to the department by the end of the quarter following the QE exam.  
• The degree will be granted after the Ph.D. Dissertation is approved by the student’s dissertation committee.

Designated Emphasis

The Feminist Studies Department offers a designated emphasis in Feminist Studies for Ph.D. students. Designed as a complement to Ph.D. programs, this designated emphasis provides opportunities for interdisciplinary study with Feminist Studies faculty. Completion of the program will be listed on the graduate degree as a Designated Emphasis in Feminist Studies.

When to apply: Students are encouraged to apply in the first or second year of graduate study.

How to apply: Complete the Application for the DE and submit to the FMST Graduate Coordinator at fmstgc@ucsc.edu.

Requirements: The following are required for the designated emphasis:

1. Committee Composition
The student must have a designated graduate advisor from Feminist Studies faculty who serves on the qualifying exam committee or in some other appropriate capacity.

2. Writing
The student must prepare a significant piece of writing in the area of feminist studies. This writing may be a master’s essay, or a chapter of the doctoral dissertation.

3. Course Requirements
The student must take four (4) graduate courses in feminist studies: two (2) of which must be taught directly in the FMST department and two seminars selected from among the graduate offerings of any UCSC department, so long as they are taught by core or affiliated Feminist Studies faculty. There is also an annually updated list of regularly offered, approved graduate courses.

Courses on relevant topics not taught by Feminist Studies faculty or affiliates may be approved by petition to the FMST Graduate Committee. Please contact the FMST Graduate Coordinator (fmstgc@ucsc.edu) for more information on the process.

Courses: Graduate coursework in feminist studies is available in the Feminist Studies Department and in other departments. Graduate courses in Feminist Studies include:

• FMST 200 Feminist Theories, offered by Gina Dent
• FMST 201 Topics in Feminist Methodologies, offered by Anjali Arondekar
• FMST 202 Disciplining Knowledge, offered by Neda Atanasoski
• FMST 203 Feminist Pedagogies, offered by Bettina Aptheker
• FMST 204 Ethnographic Writing and Social Documentation, offered by Marcia Ochoa
• FMST 207 Topics in Queer/Race Studies, offered by Anjali Arondekar
• FMST 208 African(a) Genders and Sexualities, offered by Xavier Livermon
• FMST 209 Comparative Empires: Gender, Slavery, Race, offered by Anjali Arondekar
• FMST 211 Sexuality, Race and Migration in the Americas, offered by Felicity Amaya Schaeffer
• FMST 212 Feminist Theory and the Law, offered by Gina Dent
• FMST 214 Topics in Feminist Science Studies, offered by Karen Barad
• FMST 215 Postcolonial and Postsocialist Transactional Analytics, offered by Neda Atanasoski
• FMST 216 Archives/Genders/Histories An Introduction, offered by Anjali Arondekar
• FMST 218 Militarism and Tourism, offered by Jenny Kelly
• FMST 222 Religion, Feminism and Sexual Politics, offered by Neda Atanasoski
• FMST 232 Topics in Postcolonial Studies, offered by Madhavi Murty
• FMST 243 Feminism, Race, and the Politics of Knowledge, offered by Nick Mitchell
• FMST 245 Race and Representation, offered by Jennifer Gonzalez
• FMST 260 Black Feminist Reconstruction, offered by Bettina Aptheker
• FMST 264 The Idea of Africa, offered by Gina Dent
• FMST 268A/B Science and Justice: Experiments in Collaboration, offered by Karen Barad and Jennifer Reardon

For more information re: the designated emphasis, please contact the FMST Graduate Coordinator (fmstgc@ucsc.edu).

Important Forms