Gender Studies Graduate Certificate

Requirements for Admission

• Applicants must meet the general University of Missouri-St. Louis Graduate School admission requirements
• Two letters of recommendation

This certificate is available to students with Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees and students enrolled in graduate degree programs. A student need not be enrolled in a degree program to earn the Gender Studies graduate certificate. Post B.A./B.S. students may enroll in the undergraduate or graduate certificate program.

Certificate Requirements

At least 18 hours of Gender Studies courses at the 4000, 5000, and/or 6000 level

1. 3 hours must include a graduate feminist or gender theory course, which may be GS 5100 Feminist Theory, GS 4600 Masculinities, or other theory course.
2. 3 hours must include either a graduate internship or practicum, or final writing project, which may be an independent study GS 6452 Special Readings in Gender Studies, or a substantial research and writing project for a GS graduate seminar, which may be GS 6450 Seminar in Gender Studies, or other cross-listed, 5000 or 6000-level seminar
3. 9 hours must be at the 5000 level or above, while up to 9 hours of 4000-level courses may be taken for graduate credit, as long as student completes graduate level work for the course.

4. No more than 6 hours may be taken as Directed or Independent Study credit.

Most Gender Studies courses are cross-listed with other departments and count toward a department’s degree requirements we well as toward the certificate.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the certificate earners will be able to:

Knowledge

• Contrast different theoretical approaches to understanding gender and their implications for advocacy and activism
• Develop in-depth knowledge of one aspect of gendered experience examined through the lens of a time period, literary genre, a geographic region, or other focus on a narrowed topic

Writing Research and Communications

• Apply feminist theories and methods to analyze, interpret, and discuss the role of gender in written, oral, visual, and/or multimedia texts
• Apply feminist research methods to identify and investigate a problem relating to gender in order to design an original research project that contributes to the scholarship on a topic in the field of Gender Studies by conducting a comprehensive and critical literature review, identifying and utilizing at least one appropriate method of original data collection, evaluating sources, and interpreting and disseminating the results

Professional

• Network with local and global leaders in the field of gender studies or fields appropriate to students’ interests and career goals
• Develop the skills and knowledge necessary to compete for and be successful in a wide range of fields both local and global including non-profit management, education, academia, social work, the sciences, business, law, and transnational feminist work