The Women's & Gender Studies (WGS) graduate specialization is available as an elective for students who are enrolled in master's and doctoral degree programs at Michigan State University. The specialization is sponsored jointly by the Colleges of Social Science, Arts & Letters, and Education.
Contact the GenCen grad programs advisor, Pat Arnold, for more information.
The WGS Graduate Specialization is designed to foster the study of women, gender, sexuality, and feminist theory across disciplines and national borders, provide professionalization opportunities for graduate students focusing on women, gender, and/or feminist studies, and to foster the growth of interdisciplinary research and teaching on women, gender, and sexualities. Emphasis is given to understanding the diversity of gender and sexuality—cross-culturally and globally. The specialization is open to graduate students with adequate undergraduate preparation in gender studies and currently enrolled in a graduate degree program at MSU.
The specialization should complement advanced, discipline-based degrees by providing an interdisciplinary, feminist component. Students are encouraged to develop competence in the foreign language most relevant to their field of work and area of interest.
Download the program brochure for the WGS specialization here [pdf].
The WGS Specialization is designed to provide interdisciplinary training in gender studies with a focus on the intersections of gender with race, class, and ethnicity from a global perspective. Students can select elective courses tailored to their interests.
With approval of the advisor, courses that are used to satisfy requirements in the student's graduate degree program may also be used to satisfy the requirements for the Graduate Specialization in Women's & Gender Studies.
WS 897: Seminar in Feminist Theories, Epistomologies & Pedagogy
Elective courses must focus on women's and gender issues and should complement the student's major interests. At least one of these courses must be at the 800-level. A complete list of applicable courses is maintained by the GenCen Advisor, and is available on the Office of the Registrar site.
Sample elective courses include:
The WGS Program offers Dissertation Fellowships on an annual basis. For more information on the Fellowships and how to apply, visit our graduate student funding page.
Dissertation Research Awards
Lalaki Awudu (Sociology)
“Transregional Migration: Understanding Belonging and Gendered Relations in the Global South”
Kyla Cary (Human Development and Family Studies)
“Women’s Online Experiences of Sexual Objectification: Measurement Development and Associations with Behavior and Mental Health“
Nerli Paredes Ruvalcaba (Anthropology)
“An intersectional approach to motherhood and infant development in Mexico: The role of biomedicine, infant feeding, and human milk“
Edith Gondwe (Fisheries and Wildlife)
“Women Empowerment, Capital Assets, and Small-Scale Fish Food Systems: Contribution to Food and Nutrition Security”
Cara Jacob (Anthropology)
"Water Security Down the Drain: Shifting Understandings of Water In/security Among Women in A Rustbelt City"
Dissertation Completion Awards
Rebekah Gordon (Education – Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education)
“Laboring for the Motherland: Mobilizing Maternal Perspectives to Reconceptualize the Curriculum of State-sponsored Transnational Teachers”
Dissertation Research Awards
Elizabeth Brannon (Political Science)
"The Electoral Support of Former Rebel Women in Post-Conflict Africa"
Inna Mirzoyan (Sociology)
"Who is Armenia’s Second Army and Can It Help the Country Succeed?
Dissertation Completion Awards
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Center for Gender in Global Context
International Center
427 N. Shaw Lane, Room 206
East Lansing, MI 48824
Phone: 517-353-5040
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