The Graduate Certificate in Women’s & Gender Studies is designed for students enrolled in a graduate program in any field who wish to complement their advanced training and scholarly work with an additional specialization in Women’s & Gender Studies.
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Eligibility and Admission
- To pursue this certificate, students must be enrolled in a graduate degree program or already hold a graduate degree.
- Applicants must possess a baccalaureate degree and have a minimum 2.75 cumulative undergraduate GPA to be admitted into a certificate program.
Application
- Interested students must meet with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) to declare their intent. Please see the contact information listed below to make an appointment.
- All graduate certificate applicants – even those already enrolled in a UWM graduate program – must apply to the Graduate School through the Panthera Graduate Admission Application.
- Graduate degree and previously admitted graduate non-degree students who decide to pursue a certificate should complete and submit the Panthera application before completing 6 credits in the certificate sequence and pay the required application fee.
Students are strongly advised to consult with the DGS periodically to ensure they stay on track towards the completion of the certificate.
Credits and Courses
The Graduate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies requires completion of 15 credits in approved courses with an overall GPA of 3.0. The following are required:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required | ||
| WGS 700 | Feminist Issues and Scholarship | 3 |
| WGS 701 | Feminisms in Global Context | 3 |
| WGS 710 | Advanced Feminist Theory | 3 |
| Electives | ||
| Select 6 credits from a combination of WGS courses and approved cross-listed Graduate (G) or Undergraduate/Graduate (U/G) courses in other programs and departments | 6 | |
| Total Credits | 15 | |
No more than 6 credits in U/G courses can apply toward the certificate, and a maximum of 3 credits in independent study may count toward the 15 credits required for the certificate. Thesis and research credits may not be counted toward the certificate.
Approved Electives outside of WGS
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AD LDSP 779 | Current Topics in Administrative Leadership: (Women Teaching and Leadership in Educational Organizations) | 1-3 |
| AD LDSP 795 | Women and Leadership in Education | 3 |
| AFRIC 700 | Foundations and Theories in African & African Diaspora Studies | 3 |
| AFRIC 880 | Seminar on Issues in African & African Diaspora Studies: (Africana Womanism) | 3 |
| COMMUN 802 | Marital and Family Communication | 3 |
| COMMUN 803 | Gender and Communication | 3 |
| COMMUN 874 | Rhetoric of Women's Rights in the US | 3 |
| ENGLISH 771 | Literature of the English Renaissance: (Early Modern Women Writers) | 3 |
| ENGLISH 776 | Women Writers: (Gender Anger and Revenge; Early Women Writers; Greatest Hits) | 3 |
| ENGLISH 780 | African American Literature: (Sex and Sexuality) | 3 |
| ENGLISH 784 | Topics in Transnational Literature (Transnational Fiction: Unsettling and Gender) | 3 |
| ENGLISH 812 | Seminar in Theories of Composition and Rhetoric: (Feminist Rhetorics) | 3 |
| ENGLISH 820 | Seminar in Advanced Topics in Literary Criticism and Research: (Feminist Theory and Criticism) | 1-3 |
| ENGLISH 843 | Seminar in Renaissance Prose and Poetry: (Women Writers) | 3 |
| ENGLISH 872 | Seminar in Women Writers: | 3 |
| ENGLISH 875 | Seminar in Modern Literature: (Gendered Narratives; Virginia Woolf) | 3 |
| ENGLISH 876 | Seminar in Media Studies: (Family Photography; Queer Cinema and Television) | 3 |
| ENGLISH 878 | Seminar in Feminist Critical Theory: | 3 |
| ENGLISH 882 | Seminar in Nineteenth-Century American Literature: (American Women Writers and the Sentimental) | 3 |
| ENGLISH 883 | Seminar in Twentieth-Century American Literature: (Multiculturalism) | 3 |
| ENGLISH 885 | Seminar in Critical Theory: (Psychoanalysis, Gender, Sexuality; Queer Theory; Spivac) | 3 |
| FILMSTD 690 | Seminar in Contemporary Cinema and Media: (Women Directors) | 3 |
| FRENCH 733 | Seminar in French Literature: (French Women Writers) | 3 |
| HIST 840 | Colloquium on Global History: (Gender and Imperialism 1830-1940) | 3 |
| HIST 841 | Colloquium on Modern Studies: (Queer Theory) | 3 |
| HIST 900 | Seminar on U.S. History: (History of Women in America; Women and Reform 19th and 20th Centuries) | 3 |
| HIST 940 | Seminar on Global History: (Gender, Religion and Colonization 1450-1850; Slavery and Gender in Early America and the Caribbean) | 3 |
| HIST 950 | Seminar on European History: (Christianity and Sexuality from New Testament Times to the Present) | 3 |
| IND REL 800 | Current Issues in Industrial Relations: (Family Friendly Work Practices; Sexual Harassment in the Workplace) | 1-3 |
| JAMS 840 | Topics in Media Law and Ethics: (Pornography and Hate Speech) | 3 |
| JAMS 845 | Topics in Gender, Sexuality, and Media: (Gender and Popular Culture) | 3 |
| JAMS 860 | Seminar in Media Studies: (Pornography, Privacy and Hate Speech) | 3 |
| NURS 763 | Issues in Women's Health and Development | 3 |
| NURS 779 | Special Topics Seminar: (Current Issues in Women Health Development: Health of Older Women) | 1-5 |
| PH 740 | Special Topics in Public Health: | 1-3 |
| PSYCH 711 | Current Topics in Psychology: (Feminist Perspectives in Psychoanalysis: Etiology and Treatment of Eating Disorders) | 1-4 |
| SOCIOL 927 | Seminar in Sociology of Contemporary Institutions: (A Sociology of Welfare; Issues in Family and Gender; Sociology of Gender; The Family and the State) | 3 |
| SOC WRK 771 | Development of the Family Over the Life Span | 3 |
| SOC WRK 791 | Current Topics in Social Work: (Women, Work and Family; Family Violence: a Cycle to be Broken) | 1-3 |
| SOC WRK 820 | Seminar in Social Work Practice: (Intimate Partner Violence) | 2 |
To declare your intent or for more information about the WGS Graduate program contact the Director of Graduate Studies.
Carolyn EichnerDirector of Graduate Studies
Curtin Hall 523
Email: eichner@uwm.edu
Graduate Grievance Procedures
Federal law and UWM policy require programs and departments to have procedures for graduate students to appeal academic decisions such as grades or scholastic standing. These procedures ensure the protection of students’ rights. These pages serve as a reference on procedures for graduate student academic appeals.