Emphasis in Feminist Studies
The Feminist Studies Program, with over 30 core and affiliated faculty members in over eleven
disciplines, serves as a mode of interdisciplinary work and scholarly collaboration at UCSB.
Feminist studies doctoral emphasis students are required to complete successfully four seminars
that will enhance their understanding of feminist pedagogy, feminist theory, and topics relevant to
the study of women, gender, and/or sexuality. Using an interdepartmental set of conversations and
intellectual questions, women's studies support a multifaceted undergraduate curriculum at UCSB.
Graduate emphasis students are encouraged to apply to teach Feminist Studies courses as teaching
assistants and associates as part of their Feminist Studies training.
Applicants must first be admitted to, or currently enrolled in, a UCSB PhD program participating in
the feminist studies graduate emphasis: Anthropology; Comparative Literature; Dramatic Art and
Dance; English; French and Italian; Germanic, Slavic, and Semitic Studies; History; History of Art
and Architecture; Religious Studies; Sociology; or Spanish and Portuguese. Candidates complete four
graduate courses and select a member of the feminist studies faculty or affiliated faculty to
serve on their PhD exam and dissertation committees. Applications to the Feminist Studies Doctoral
Emphasis may be submitted at any stage of PhD work; and application deadlines are November 1, and
May 1.
Students pursuing the emphasis in Feminist Studies will successfully complete four graduate
courses. Only one may be taken in the student's home department.
- Issues in Feminist Epistemology and Pedagogy (Feminist Studies 270/Fall). A one-quarter seminar that considers women's studies as a distinct field. It offers an interdisciplinary exploration of feminist theories of knowledge production and teaching practices. Readings cover past and present critical debates and provide theoretical approaches through which to analyze interdisciplinary epistemological and pedagogical issues.
- Feminist Theories. A one-quarter graduate seminar in feminist theory offered by any department, including Feminist Studies.
- Topical Seminar. A one-quarter graduate seminar, outside the student?s home department, that addresses topics relevant to the study of women, gender, and/or sexuality.
- Special Topics in Feminist Studies (594AA-ZZ). A one-quarter seminar offered by a Feminist Studies faculty member on topics of central concern to the field of Feminist Studies or
- Research Practicum (Feminist Studies 280). A cross-disciplinary seminar in which fundamental questions in contemporary feminist research practice are considered in light of student?s own graduate projects. Students may fulfill the Area 2 requirement by taking either a Special Topics Seminar or the Research Practicum.