WMS_MA - Women's Studies (M.A.)

Program Information

The Women’s Studies program is administered by the Center for Gender, Sexualities, and Women’s Studies Research. The program offers both a Thesis and a Non-Thesis M.A., as well as a two graduate certificates.  The Center sponsors speakers and events, promotes interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary scholarship and community engagement, and distributes a newsletter each fall and spring.  

Our MA program offers a vibrant and diverse faculty, flexible requirements, and excellent preparation for those wishing to go on for doctoral work or professional employment. Our areas of expertise include Black and Latinx feminisms; critical girlhood studies; critical health studies; feminist/ethnic studies; LGBTQ+ studies; feminist technoscience; gender, race, and sexualities; interdisciplinary history studies; Latinx, Afro-Latinx, Haitian, and Caribbean studies; media, cultural, and literary studies; migration studies; and transnational and postcolonial feminist analysis. We apply this expertise in the study of critical domains such as data science, health and medicine, history of women, crime and violence, sexual violence and exploitation, law and politics, leadership and business, literatures and cultures, media and art, work, migration, and social movement activism. In addition to our twelve core faculty members, we have over 100 affiliated faculty members who offer courses, serve on graduate committees, and collaborate in other ways with the Center.

We offer an excellent funding package to our MA students. This includes graduate assistantships with tuition remission, along with supplemental need-based scholarships. We also provide students with research and travel funds. We offer innovative teaching and research, both Thesis and Non-Thesis MAs, combination MA/JD option, and a wide range of specializations. Graduates of our program have gone on to a variety of PhD programs as well as employment in teaching and research, nongovernmental organizations, social services, advocacy, journalism and the media.

Gainesville, Florida is a great location for graduate studies. Gainesville is a medium-sized university town with a host of resources and welcoming climate. Our students come from around the country and internationally, and find UF and the wider community to provide a progressive, affordable, and culturally rich environment in which to live. Many of our students elect to carry out internships in local organizations that offer academic credit and valuable hands-on experience, preparing them for post-graduate employment and active participation as global citizens.

Master of Arts (thesis and non-thesis): The Center offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) thesis degree option, which requires the completion and defense of a thesis (30 credit hours), and the Master of Arts non-thesis degree option, which requires completion and defense of a project or paper (30 credit hours). All Master’s students take a core curriculum of 12 graduate credits (4 courses). For the thesis M.A., the remaining 18 hours consist of 12 credits of approved electives and 6 thesis credits. It is strongly recommended that students take at least 3 additional credits in research methods or skills as an elective. For the non-thesis M.A., 18 credits of approved electives are required.

Required courses for all MA students (12 credits):

*Theory-designated courses include:

• WST 6935: Latinx Sexualities
• WST 6935: Race, Sex, Representation
• WST 6935: Global Women of Color
• WST 6908: Advanced Feminist theory
• WST 6348: Ecofeminism
• Approved courses offered each semester will be posted on the program’s website

** Feminist Praxis/Public Scholarship-designated courses include:

• WST 6935: Social Justice Praxis
• WST 6596: Intersectional Activisms
• WST 6935: Critical Girlhood Studies
• WST 6935: Queer & Trans Movements
• WST 6935: Jobs, Gender & Justice
• WST 6935: Reproductive Health and Justice
• Approved courses offered each semester will be posted on the program’s website

In addition to the required courses above, thesis and non-thesis options require the following:

Thesis

• 12 approved credits at 5000-level or higher
• 6 credits of WST 6971 Research for Master's Thesis (1-15 cr.) (3 of which must be taken in the final graduating term)
• (12 required courses + 12 electives + 6 MA research hours = 30 credits total for MA Thesis)

Non-thesis

• 18 approved credits at 5000-level of higher
• at least 9 of these credits must be WST classes
• (12 required courses + 18 electives = 30 credits total for MA Non-thesis)

BA/ MA Program: UF offers a number of Bachelor’s/Master’s programs for superior students. The university created combination degree programs to provide academically talented students an opportunity to complete both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in a shorter period of time. The program allows you to double-count graduate courses toward both degrees, thus reducing the time it would normally take to graduate by a semester or more. The combination-degree program reduces the cost of both degrees and enhances your marketability for career advancement.

M.A./J.D. Joint Degree: The faculties of the Levin College of Law and Women’s Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences have approved a joint degree program culminating in both a J.D. degree, awarded by the College of Law, and an M.A. degree (thesis or non-thesis), awarded by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Under this joint degree program, a student can obtain both degrees in approximately one year less than it would take to obtain both degrees if pursued consecutively. A student must satisfy the curriculum requirements for each degree before either degree is awarded. At least 12 credits must be taken in each program. The graduate program in Women’s Studies will accept 12 credits of appropriate professional courses toward the M.A. degree. The 12 credits selected from the professional curriculum must be approved by the Graduate Coordinator upon the recommendation of the student’s graduate supervisory committee. Reciprocally, the law school will accept 12 credits of appropriate Women’s Studies courses toward the satisfaction of the J.D. degree. Admission to the second program is required no later than the end of the third consecutive semester after beginning one degree of the joint degree program. A summer term is counted as a single semester.

Concurrent Degrees: University of Florida provides a concurrent degree program allowing for simultaneous study on an individualized basis that leads to two master’s degrees in two different graduate programs. Such a program is initiated by the student and requires prior approval of each academic unit and the Graduate School. If the student is approved to pursue two master’s degrees, up to 9 credits of course work from one degree program may be applied toward the second master’s degree, thereby allowing both degrees to be completed in less time. The forms required for approval of the concurrent program and petition for acceptance of nine credits of coursework in a second master’s program may be found at http://graduateschool.ufl.edu/media/graduate-school/pdf-files/concurrent.pdf

PhD/MA Degrees: University of Florida provides a non-traditional degree option that allows those already in a PhD program at UF to apply to a MA program also. Up to nine credits from the doctoral degree program may be counted toward the master’s degree program. The forms required for approval of such a degree arrangement are available here: http://graduateschool.ufl.edu/media/graduate-school/pdf-files/nontraditional-20210826.pdf

Certificates (M.A. or Ph.D. level): Two graduate certificates in Women’s Studies for master’s and doctoral students are offered in conjunction with degree programs in other academic units. The Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies and the Graduate Certificate in Gender and Development require specific sets of course work, designed to give students a thorough grounding in the discipline. The Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies offers students a general overview of the field. The Graduate Certificate in Gender and Development allows students to focus on issues related to gender, economic development, and globalization.

Graduate courses in women’s studies are also available from the following academic units or programs:

• Agricultural and Life Sciences
• Anthropology
• Counselor Education
• English
• History
• Journalism and Communication
• Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
• Latin American Studies
• Linguistics
• Medicine
• Philosophy
• Psychology
• Religion
• Sociology
• Teaching and Learning

For more information, please see our website: http://web.wst.ufl.edu.