Program Description
Any student enrolled in a UW-Madison Ph.D. program can pursue a doctoral minor in Gender and Women’s Studies. The Ph.D. minor offers substantial and systematic training in the field of gender and women’s studies and can be tailored to a student’s specific interests in one of two ways – Option A or Option B. A Ph.D. minor in Gender and Women’s Studies is an excellent way to gain training in feminist analysis and research methods as well as in substantive topical areas related to women and gender that can be applied to one’s research field and to one’s teaching. Review the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research interests of Gender and Women’s Studies faculty in our directory and learn how the Office of the Gender & Women’s Studies Librarian can support your research.
The advisors for the doctoral Minor in Gender and Women’s Studies are the Graduate Program Manager and the Director of Graduate Studies.
To declare the doctoral minor in Gender and Women’s Students go to Add/Change Programs in the Graduate Student Portal in MyUW. Please let us know if you have questions about this process.
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Option A Minor
A student may earn a Ph.D. minor in Gender and Women’s Studies with 9 credits if all 9 credits are in exclusively graduate-level Gender & Women’s Studies courses. Alternatively, a student many earn the minor with 12 credits in a combination of graduate and undergraduate Gender & Women’s Studies courses numbered 300 and above. One of these courses must be GWS 800: Research Methods in Gender and Women’s Studies. Students are expected to earn a B or better in their courses for the Ph.D. minor.
Option B Minor
Graduate students who wish to pursue an Option B minor combine course work with a gender component from two or more departments outside the student’s major department. The student’s home department is responsible for approving an Option B minor.
Graduate students can also pursue their interests in gender and women’s studies analysis within their home discipline by taking courses involving gender, as well as doing research in gender and women’s studies as it relates to their discipline (in papers, theses, dissertations, and preliminary examinations).