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2024-2025 Academic Calendar | York University Faculty of Graduate Studies

Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies

Posted on 17 August 2022

All Programs

LocationEmail AddressProgram Website
Founders College, Room 206Ggpagfws@yorku.cayorku.ca/gradstudies/gfws/

The Graduate Program in Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies at York University was established in 1992, and was the first in Canada to offer a graduate degree in women’s studies. Today it is one of the largest programs in women’s and gender studies and feminist research in Canada and in the world, offering an MA and a PhD to full-time and part-time students.

The graduate program is fundamentally interdisciplinary in formation and practice. One of its primary goals is to develop and apply a feminist analytical perspective to teaching and research on women and gender as they intersect with sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, ability, and age. A second goal is to provide rigorous interdisciplinary training that provides students with the tools to enact social transformation in theory and praxis and enables students to conduct research and analysis both within and outside academia.

The program draws widely from the humanities, social sciences, health, environmental studies, fine arts, education and law. It has over 100 affiliated faculty members and typically offers about 30 core, elective and cross-listed courses each year. There are about 100 registered students.

The Graduate Program in Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies is administratively housed in the School of Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies at York University. The School of Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies provides a base and resource for teachers, students, and researchers across the York University community. In addition to undergraduate gender and women’s studies and sexuality studies programs, the Centre for Feminist Research, the Nellie Langford Rowell Library, and the quarterly journal Canadian Woman Studies/les cahiers de la femme are all affiliated with the School.

GFWS fera de son mieux pour accommoder les étudiant/e/s francophones. Nous ferons tout notre possible pour permettre aux étudiant/e/s francophones d’écrire leurs travaux, y compris leurs dissertations de cours, leur projet de recherche, leur mémoire ou leur thèse, ainsi que leurs examens compréhensifs, en français. Ceci dépendra surtout de la disponibilité de membres de la faculté capables d’évaluer de tels travaux. Il y a plusieurs membres de la faculté qui se sont identifés comme capables d’évaluer des travaux écrits et/ou de participer à des examens oraux en français.

Fields of Specialization

The following seven interrelated fields of specialization identify the research and teaching strengths of the Graduate Program in Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies at York University. The fields represent broad areas of interest in feminist research and all fields foreground the intersections of women and/or gender/s with sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, ability, and age.

  • Cultural and literary studies, performance and fine arts
  • Diaspora, transnational and global studies
  • Histories
  • Politics, economies and societies
  • Race
  • Sexualities
  • Theories and methods

Part-time Studies

Part-time students are encouraged to apply for both the MA and PhD programs. Whenever possible courses are scheduled in the late afternoon, evening hours, and summer.

Admission Requirements

MA

PhD

To be considered for admission as a candidate for the MA degree, an applicant must be a university graduate holding a degree based on four years of undergraduate study with at least a B+ average (or equivalent). In the context of the Canadian system of higher education, this means an Honours degree. For graduates from other jurisdictions, equivalency is determined in accordance with legislation established by the Senate of York University. The grade point average is assessed over the last two years (full-time equivalent) of study.

Graduates with an MA degree or the equivalent from a recognized university, with at least a B+ average, and in a field of study relevant to graduate work in Women’s Studies, are considered for admission as candidates for the PhD degree.

Degree Requirements

MA

PhD

MA

Upon admission, each student is assigned an advisor with whom the student meets to decide on a plan of study. There are no language or cognate requirements for the MA degree in Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies.

Students can complete their degree either by research paper or by thesis.

Courses

Students must successfully complete three and a half full-courses (or equivalent) including:
Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies 6002 3.0: Feminist Theory;
Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies 6007 3.0: Feminist Research Colloquium;
Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies 6907 3.0: Seminar in Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies; and,
one half-course chosen from the program -based core courses.

The final selection of courses is determined in consultation with the faculty advisor and/or the Graduate Program Director of Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies. With permission, one course may be chosen from those offered by another graduate program. Typically, full time students complete all the coursework in the first two terms.

Research Paper

Candidates must undertake research under the direction of a Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies’ graduate program faculty member on an approved topic, and write a paper of 50-75 pages incorporating this research. The paper is assessed by the faculty member directing the research and by a second reader.

Courses

Students must successfully complete two full-courses (or equivalent) including:
Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies 6002 3.0: Feminist Theory;
Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies 6007 3.0: Feminist Research Colloquium;
Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies 6907 3.0: Seminar in Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies; and,
one half-course chosen from the program -based core courses.

With permission of the Graduate Program Director, one of these courses may be chosen from those offered by another graduate program. The final selection of courses is determined in consultation with the faculty advisor and/or the Graduate Program Director of Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies. Typically full-time students complete all the course work in the first two terms.

Thesis and Oral Examination

Candidates must submit a thesis based on original research organized in an appropriate thesis form. The thesis can take a variety of forms, including monograph, manuscript based, complex digital, or multimodal, in line with Faculty of Graduate Studies Regulations. The research and thesis should demonstrate the candidate’s independence, originality and understanding of the area of investigation. After the formal submission of the thesis, an oral examination is held in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ regulations

The MA program can be completed on a full- or part-time basis. Entry is fall term.

The expected degree completion time for full-time master’s students is 3 terms. For those students who complete degree requirements earlier than 3 terms, they must register and pay fees for a minimum of the equivalent of 3 terms of full-time study. All requirements for a master’s degree must be fulfilled within 12 terms (4 years) of registration as a full-time or part-time master’s student in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ registration policies.

PhD

Candidates for the PhD degree must fulfil the following requirements:

Students must successfully complete three full-courses (or equivalent) including:
Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies 6009 3.0: Advanced Research in Feminist Theory;
Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies 6008 3.0: Feminist Research Methodologies and Methods; and,
one half-course chosen from the program -based core courses. The final selection of courses is determined with the assistance of the Graduate Program Director, or a designated faculty advisor. With permission from the Graduate Program Director, one full course or equivalent may be chosen from those offered by another graduate program. Typically full-time students complete all course work requirements within the first two years.

Students in the doctoral program must demonstrate that they have knowledge in gender, feminist and women’s studies by passing a written and oral comprehensive examination. The comprehensive exam has two sections: a general examination and a specific examination. The requirements for both the general and the specific are similar, with a key difference: the general examination allows for a course outline option.

The comprehensive examination is normally taken by the end of the second year of registration in the case of full-time students, and by the end of the third year of registration in the case of part-time students. Full-time students are required to complete the examination by the end of their eighth term of study.

The comprehensive examination is normally supervised by the members of the candidate’s PhD supervisory committee. Students are normally permitted to rewrite the examination once only; a second failure requires withdrawal from the program.

When a student has successfully written the comprehensive examination, the student and the supervisor recommend a supervisory committee. This committee is comprised of a minimum of three faculty members, at least two of whom must be members of the Graduate Program in Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies.

Candidates must complete a research project and report the results in appropriate dissertation form. The dissertation can take a variety of forms, including monograph, manuscript based, complex digital, or multimodal, in line with Faculty of Graduate Studies Regulations.
The research and dissertation should demonstrate the candidate’s independence, originality and understanding of the field of investigation at an advanced level. After the formal submission of the dissertation, an oral examination is held in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies. regulations

There are no language or cognate requirements for the PhD degree in Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies. However, students may be required, based on the dissertation topic, to demonstrate knowledge of a language other than English, or a cognate skill.

The PhD program can be completed on a full- or part-time basis. Entry is fall term.

Full-time students are expected to complete their studies within five academic years of admission. Doctor of Philosophy students must register and pay fees for a minimum of the equivalent of six terms of full-time registration. All requirements for a doctoral degree must be fulfilled within 18 terms (6 years) of registration as a full-time or part-time doctoral student in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ registration policies.