The program consists of the following requirements to fulfill the minimum 15 credits:

• Five Women's Studies approved graduate courses:

• Two core Women's Studies approved graduate courses:
  • Feminist Theory: A background in theory is required for admission and, in addition, this Women's Studies course is both a foundational core requirement and prerequisited for the Issues in Feminist Research Seminar. Course content explores an integrative perspective* and may examine selected paradigms in feminist theories.
    
  • Issues in Feminist Rsearch Seminar: A three credit methods seminar where students and selected guest lecturers prsent works in progress with critical attention paid to feminist research methodology.

• Two interdisciplinary electives from the following approved categories:
  • Feminist Approaches to History, Literature and the Social and Natural Sciences: Students will choose a course from the list of approved seminars that focuses largely on women's roles, issues and concerns, and is guided by feminist analysis.

  • Intercultural Perspectives: Students, with the approval of their will choose a course from the list of crosscultural and multicultural courses that examine the lives of populations of women of color from an integrative perspective*.

• One Independent Study Final Research Project:
  Ordinarily, a committee must be named and a research prospectus submitted to the Graduate Certificate Program Director at the beginning of work on the final research project. Women's Studies students must also sign up for at least a 3 credit independent study with the Gradute Program Coordinator when beginning the final research project.

  Research project options include but ar enot limited to: a master's thesis or doctoral dissertaiton; a publishable research paper or project of outstanding quality; a book chapter; a performance or multimedia presentation. The research paper can be developed from: 1) a paper submitted to meet one of the core requirements; 2) prior research; 3) a practicum or other project. A faculty committee of at least two will evaluate the project, one from the disciplinary focus or class in which the student originallly wrote the paper or conducted the research or practicum, and one other faculty member approved by the Graduate Certificate Program Director. A final copy of the the research project is to be left with the Women's Studies Program.