Support the ProgramWomen's Studies Program at Miami University
Curriculum
Major
The Women's Studies Major requires a minimum of 30 semester hours (with a minimum grade point average of 2.0):
- 12 hours of core courses
- 18 hours in the major area of focus
Core Courses (both of these):
- Introduction to Women's Studies
(WMS 201, 3 hrs) - Women and Difference: Intersections of Race, Class, and Sexuality
(WMS 301, 3 hrs)
One of the following:
- Women in a Transforming Society
(WMS 401, 3 hrs) - Feminism in the Diaspora: U.S. Women of Color
(WMS/BWS 370.E, 3 hrs)
One of the following:
- Feminist Theory
(WMS/PHL 355, 4 hrs) - Feminist Literary Theory and Practice
(WMS/ENG 368, 3 hrs) - Black Feminist Theory
(WMS 425, 3 hrs) - French Feminist Theory
(WMS/FRE 431, 3 hrs) - Queer Theory
(WMS/ENG 435, 3 hrs) - or a feminist theory course approved by a WMS advisor
Major Area of Focus (18 additional hours)
The Women's Studies major requires at least 18 semester hours, 9 of which must be at the 300 or 400 level, in a focus area. [See the courses page for the major areas of focus.] A maximum of 6 semester hours, taken in an approved internship, community action, or service learning experience, may be substituted for course work. A course cannot count both as a core course and an elective. Most of the courses which are cross-listed with other programs and departments can be used to fulfill the focus requirements. In addition, departments frequently offer special topics courses with a focus on women or gender. Students should consult with the Women's Studies advisor for any questions regarding the focus requirements.
Minor
Undergraduate students at Miami may take courses to fulfill the requirements for the minor in Women's Studies, which also fulfills the Miami Plan Thematic Sequence requirement. To earn the minor, students must complete 18 hours of WMS coursework with a minimum grade point average of 2.0. Included are:
- A required course in feminist theory, selected from among
- Feminist Theory
(WMS/PHL 355) - Feminist Literary Theory
(WMS/ENG 368) - Black Feminist Theory
(WMS 425) - French Feminist Theory
(WMS/FRE 431/531) - Queer Theory
(WMS/ENG 435) - or another feminist theory course approved by the director, and
- Feminist Theory
- Either
- Women in Transforming Society
(WMS 401) or - Feminism in the Diaspora: U.S. Women of Color
(WMS/BWS 370.E)
- Women in Transforming Society
Introduction to Women's Studies (WMS 201) is strongly recommended, particularly as a first course for students considering the minor. Students are urged to select courses in consultation with an advisor. Students should register their intent to complete the minor on a form which is available from the Advising Office of the College of Arts and Science (146 Upham) or the WMS Office (126 MacMillan).
Graduate Concentration
The graduate concentration in Women's Studies is a 12-14 hour program available to Masters and Doctoral candidates in any field of study across the university. Its purpose is to enhance a disciplinary graduate degree with specialization in Women's Studies. Using a multi- or inter-disciplinary approach, students in this program will explore the influence of gender and other social differences on the production and dissemination of knowledge within disciplines. The program provides intensive study of a variety of feminist theories and methodologies. Courses stress interaction between theory and practice and the connections between academic work and public life.
[View the Miami Bulletin, Graduate Edition.]
[View the Spring 2010 Graduate Courses [PDF].]
Requirements
- Introduction to Women's Studies (WMS 601, 3 hrs)
- This graduate seminar focuses on Women's Studies as an academic project and a force for social change in the U.S., tracing its historical development and identifying some of its central issues. Reading, discussion, and assignments will help students understand the impact of Women's Studies upon academia and upon their own lives.
- Feminist Theory and Methodology (WMS 602, 3 hrs)
- This graduate seminar investigates major research methods (empirical studies, case studies, ethnographies, rhetorical analysis, textual, and historical studies) as they are theorized and practiced within contemporary feminism. As an interdisciplinary project, feminist academic research includes work from psychology, sociology, literary studies, language, the arts, anthropology, philosophy, education, mathematics, political science, law, and the sciences. The seminar will highlight new ways in which research methodology and theories are informed by feminist analyses of institutional power, social difference, and the position of the researcher.
- Electives (6-8 hrs)
- The concentration requires that students take two electives (3 or 4 hours each): one within their major field of study and one in another discipline. Electives should be at the 500 level or above. To qualify as electives, courses should be taught from a feminist perspective and will be selected with the assistance of the student's faculty advisor.
- Final Project
- To emphasize the collective nature of Women's Studies work, students will be asked to make a public presentation to the university and/or local community about some aspect of their work within the concentration. This presentation may involve delivering the results of research or teaching in a public talk, creating an activist project related to the student's academic interests, or devising some other form of public interaction. The nature of this project will be planned with and approved in advance by the student's advisor.
- Women's Studies Teaching Opportunities
- Students enrolled in the Graduate Concentration may have the opportunity to gain experience in teaching Introduction to Women's Studies (WMS 201). Students selected for these opportunities are typically at the Ph.D. level and will choose as one of their electives a pedagogical independent study, assisting a faculty member in preparing and teaching a section of 201. The high quality of this pedagogical program is reflected in the fact that three graduate student teachers of WMS have earned College of Arts and Science graduate teaching awards in recent years.