Feminist Studies

315 Humanities 1
(831) 459-2461
fmst@ucsc.edu
http://feministstudies.ucsc.edu/

Program Description

Feminist studies is an interdisciplinary field of analysis that investigates how relations of gender are embedded in social, political, and cultural formations. The undergraduate program in feminist studies provides students with a unique interdisciplinary and transnational perspective. The department emphasizes theories and practices derived from multiracial and multicultural contexts.

Feminist studies prepares undergraduates for a variety of careers. The B.A. degree in feminist studies provides excellent grounding for undergraduates who have career aspirations in, for example, law, health, public administration, community organizations, and social services. Students wishing to pursue doctoral work will also find that interdisciplinary training in feminist studies equips them with theoretical and methodological strengths in most disciplines and applied research fields. Specialists in feminist studies are employed as consultants in industry, higher education, and human resources. State and federal government agencies employ people who have special training in understanding gender relations. Educational institutions need specialists to develop and administer feminist studies programs, women’s centers, and other institutional structures designed specifically to study and assist women.

Requirements for the Major

Feminist studies majors must complete 10 courses and a senior comprehensive exit requirement in the feminist studies program. Students must choose one of the following concentrations within the major: Culture, Power, and Representation; Law, Politics, and Social Change; Science, Technology, and Medicine; or Sexuality Studies. Courses appropriate for each concentration are listed at http://feministstudies.ucsc.edu.

A proposal for an independent concentration will be approved only when a student presents a clear, coherent, and rigorous plan of study that does not fit the existing concentrations. Both the student’s adviser and the Feminist Studies Department chair must approve a proposal for an independent concentration.

Required courses include course 1, Introduction to Feminisms; course 80 or another 80 course taught by feminist studies affiliated faculty; course 100, Feminist Theories (must be taken at UCSC); five five-credit upper-division courses in the concentration; two five-credit upper-division electives; and an upper-division exit (comprehensive) requirement course. One independent study (course 199) may count toward the concentration or toward the elective requirements. Either course 193 or 198 may be used to count toward the elective requirements.
Feminist studies is an interdisciplinary major and lists courses taught by affiliate faculty in other departments, however, feminist studies majors must take a minimum of five courses at UCSC taught directly in the Feminist Studies Department, i.e., courses designated FMST, not including course 193, 198, or 199. Two EAP courses may count towards the major; three transfer courses may count towards the major; and the total combined number of EAP and transfer courses that may count towards the major is a maximum of three.

Students of every major must satisfy that major's upper-division Disciplinary Communication (DC) requirement. The DC requirement will normally be met within one to three courses already required for the major. For detailed information on this major's DC requirement, consult your major adviser or see the 2010-11 general catalog.

Exit requirement options include a senior seminar (course 194) taught by core or affiliate faculty, senior thesis or a senior project (course 195). Courses 1, 80, 100, and the composition (general education code C) requirement are prerequisites to course 195 and 194s. A fourth option for fulfilling the exit requirement is to develop and teach a student-directed seminar. Only two student-directed seminars may be offered each year, and they must be approved by the feminist studies undergraduate program committee before being recommended for final course approval. Guidelines for completion of the exit requirement are available in the feminist studies office or online at http://feministstudies.ucsc.edu.

Feminist studies awards Honors and Highest Honors in the major. At the end of each quarter, a faculty committee meets to review each graduating student’s file. Students are considered for Honors and Highest Honors based on the preponderance of excellent narrative evaluations for applicable course work and senior exit requirements. Writing a thesis is not a requirement for receiving Honors or Highest Honors.

Transfer Students

Transfer students are encouraged to declare the major as soon as possible to be assured entrance into the required core courses. Feminist studies advisers or the chair determine which courses from other institutions are transferable. Courses 1, 80, and 100 must be completed in the junior year so that the exit requirement may be completed in the senior year.

Graduate Studies

Graduate students may work toward a Ph.D. degree that notes a concentration in feminist studies on the graduation documents. The request must originate in the degree-granting department. The Anthropology, History, History of Consciousness, Literature, Politics, Psychology, and Sociology Departments participate in this parenthetical notation program with the Feminist Studies Department. Students in other departments wishing to pursue this option should consult with the chairs of their respective Ph.D. programs and the chair of feminist studies. A list, updated annually, of regularly offered, approved graduate courses is available at http://feministstudies.ucsc.edu.

The following are required for the notation:

• Committee composition. The student must have a designated graduate adviser from the feminist studies core or affiliate faculty who serves on the qualifying examination committee or in some other appropriate capacity.
• Writing. The student must prepare a significant piece of writing in the area of feminist studies. This writing must be a master’s essay or a chapter of the doctoral dissertation.
• Course requirements. The student must take four graduate courses in feminist studies. The courses can be selected from among the graduate offerings of any UCSC department, as long as they are taught by core or affiliate feminist studies faculty.
• Teaching. The student must be a teaching assistant in at least one feminist studies course or teach a feminist studies course independently (designated FMST) in the regular curriculum or in Summer Session.