 |
Combined Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts Degree in Women's Studies
Women's Studies is an interdisciplinary field, and at the undergraduate and Master's level provides general training in critical thinking and written and oral communication, and specific training in gender analysis. It has proven a popular and useful program to prepare students for careers in social welfare, law, business, education, policy planning, government service, international development, and organizational management. Some Master's recipients also choose to pursue the Ph.D. in Women's Studies (not currently available at UF).
For those students interested in using the MA to develop job qualifications, this accelerated program provides quicker access to research and analytic skills. Students who have a Ph.D. as their goal will be able to abbreviate the length of time engaged in coursework. Undergraduates enrolled in graduate courses also will benefit from the more intense level of intellectual engagement involved in graduate training. For more information on the combined degree program, please visit the UF Admissions web site.
Admission to the program requires the following:
- Overall GPA of 3.2 or higher.
- Minimum GRE (verbal plus quantitative) score of 1100
- Completion of WST 3015
- At least 12 credit hours in undergraduate courses that count for Women's Studies credit, including courses taken in the semester of application
- Letters of recommendation from three faculty affiliated with Women's Studies, at least one of which must be from a member of the core Women's Studies faculty
- 2-4 page statement of purpose describing the student's academic goals, long-term career goals, and the importance to those goals of the MA in Women's Studies
- Students may apply as early as the second semester of their sophomore year or as late as their senior year
Students may enroll in up to 12 hours of graduate courses toward both the BA and MA degrees during their junior and senior years. Students may also choose either the thesis or non-thesis option for the MA. In order to receive course credit, the student must earn a grade of A, B+, or B in those courses. Because Women's Studies is an interdisciplinary degree, some courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels are taught under other rubrics. These courses are vetted and approved by the Program's Curriculum Committee. Courses which can be double-counted include:
- WST 5933 Proseminar in Women's Studies
- WST 6508 Advanced Feminist Theory
- WST 6936 Feminist Challenges to Traditional Paradigms
- WST 6905 Independent Study (3 credits maximum)
- WST 6935 Special Interdisciplinary Topics in Women's Studies
- Courses taken under other departmental rubrics at the 5000 level or higher and approved for graduate credit in Women's Studies.
The program adviser is the Undergraduate and Graduate Adviser for Women's Studies. Advisement includes in-person explanation of the program's advantages, referral to appropriate offices in the Graduate School and Student Financial Aid, discussion each semester with the adviser about courses and planning, and the maintenance of student files by the program's office manager.
