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Graduate Program

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Graduate Program

• Register your intention with the Director of Graduate Studies.
• You may do this at any time, but not later than the semester preceding the one in which you plan to take the oral examination. When you register you will receive a reading list which will guide your selection of fields and readings for the oral examination.
• Successfully complete two courses, one of which must be either
• G4000: Genealogies in Feminism
  or
• G6001: Theoretical Paradigms in Feminist Scholarship
• And one of which must be chosen from a list of courses recommended by the Institute that includes:
• G8010: Advanced Topics
• W4300: Advanced Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies
• A variety of departmental courses with a specific emphasis on gender and feminist scholarship and/or a methodological perspective influenced by feminist thought.
• Pass an oral examination based on a reading list you construct in conjunction with your examiners, and which is based on a master list regularly revised by the Institute.
• The examining committee will be composed of two faculty members affiliated with the Institute, selected by you, in consultation and with the approval of the Institute’s Graduate Director. At least one of the examiners must come from outside the department of your PhD candidacy and have had no role in your departmental examination.
• The reading list will be drawn from a master list, modified by you and your examining committee; it may include literature related to your research field, but it should predominately emphasize a broad spectrum of theoretical literature central to feminist scholarship. The reading list must be filed with the Graduate Director at least two months before the scheduled exam date, and is subject to her approval.
• The oral examination (lasting 45 minutes to one hour) may not be taken before completion of the course requirement. It is normally administered by the Institute at a time and place suitable to all concerned, but not more than six months from the date of the departmental exam. The results will be communicated to the Graduate Director in an evaluative paragraph agreed to by both examiners.
• With the approval of the Graduate Director and the agreement of the examiners, you may elect to take the examination concurrently with the major exam.
• Upon successful completion of all requirements, the Graduate Director will authorize a letter from the Institute confirming your qualifications in feminist scholarship.