Program Overview

Women's Studies and Gender Studies (MA)

The Graduate Programs in Women's Studies and Gender Studies draw from a variety of departments and programs on campus to analyze how knowledge is shaped by power (especially around the intersecting axes of gender, sexuality, and race) and to create new pathways for promoting social justice.

Overview

The WSGS community at Loyola is broadly interdisciplinary; culturally and intellectually diverse; tight-knit and supportive; politically and socially engaged; and committed to open-ended critique, inquiry, and invention.

Related Programs

• Certificate: Gender Studies and Migration for Social Justice Online Certificate
• Combined: Women's Studies and Gender Studies (MA)/Social Work (MSW)

Curriculum

The Master of Arts in Women's Studies and Gender Studies requires 30 credit hours of courses plus a capstone project (WSGS 599).

Course List

• Required Courses:
  • WSGS 401: History of Feminist Thought (Offered every fall) - 3 hours
  • WSGS 402: Foundations of Women's Studies (Offered every spring) - 3 hours
  • One Global Feminisms course - 3 hours
    • WSGS 450: Global Feminisms
• Elective Courses:
  • WSGS 460: Migration, Identity, Sexuality
  • WSGS 455: Feminist Pedagogy
  • WSGS 470: Sexual Assault Advocacy
  • WSGS 475: Masculinity Studies: Equity, Race, Transformation
  • WSGS 480: Queer Theory
  • WSGS 497: Topics in Women's Studies and Gender Studies
  • WSGS 498: Practicum
  • WSGS 499: Independent Study
• Thesis Option:
  • WSGS 500: Thesis Research - 3 hours
  • WSGS 595: Thesis Supervision - 0 hours

Tracks of Study

Students must choose one of the following concentration tracks for at least three of their electives:

• Global and Transnational
• Gender and Violence
• Bodies and Sexualities
• Religion and Ethics
• Expressive Arts
• Self-designed concentration (must be approved by the Graduate Program Director based on a written statement explaining the merits of the proposed course of study)

Responsible Conduct of Research

All PhD students and students in thesis-based Master's degree programs must successfully complete UNIV 370 Responsible Conduct in Research and Scholarship or other approved coursework in responsible conduct of research as part of the degree requirements.

Graduate & Professional Standards and Regulations

Students in graduate and professional programs can find their Academic Policies in Graduate and Professional Academic Standards and Regulations under their school. Any additional University Policies supersede school policies.

Learning Outcomes

Upon graduating, Graduate Women's Studies and Gender Studies students will be able to:

• Identify major influences within key historic feminist/gender studies movements.
• Articulate and understand how women's and gender studies is a distinct and fundamental field of study intimately connected to other interdisciplinary academic disciplines.
• Evaluate, compare, and analyze gender and feminist theories and methodologies from both an intersectional and social justice lens.
• Identify and examine the intersections of identities (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, nationality, etc.) and assess the ways in which they contribute to instances of privilege and power dynamics across global cultures, space, and time.
• Conduct research by privileging Feminist, Queer, and/or other Gender Studies methodologies.