Women's and Gender Studies, Graduate Certificate
The Graduate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies is designed for students enrolled in a graduate program in any field who wish to complement their advanced training and scholarly work with an additional specialization in Women’s and Gender Studies.
Research and study in Women's and Gender Studies helps students:
- identify and assess gender-based assumptions and biases and to recognize their social, cultural and individual consequences;
- analyze and integrate perspectives and bodies of knowledge across disciplines, and develop your critical thinking skills in ways that will complement and enhance your training in any other field;
- prepare for careers in non-profit organizations, businesses, the creative arts, education, government and public policy, journalism, law, social work, and more;
- become empowered to participate in public debate and act for social change.
Admission Requirements
Application Deadlines
Application deadlines vary by program, please review the application deadline chart for specific programs. Other important dates and deadlines can be found by using the One Stop calendars.
Eligibility and Admission
To pursue this certificate, students must be enrolled in a graduate degree program or already hold a graduate degree. Acceptance to this graduate certificate also requires a minimum 2.75 GPA from the undergraduate degree as well as a letter of intent explaining the applicant's reasons for graduate study.
Application
- Admission to a graduate certificate program requires formal student application through the Graduate School admissions application system, including the required admissions application fee.
- Certificate programs will inform the Graduate School of their admission recommendation for an applicant. The final admission decision is made by the Graduate School.
- Early application to the certificate program is recommended; late application is possible, but may incur delays for certificate conferral related to time required for credit tracking.
- Applicants must possess a baccalaureate degree and have a minimum 2.75 cumulative undergraduate grade point average to be admitted into a certificate program.
Credits and Courses
The Graduate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies requires completion of 15 credits in approved courses with an overall GPA of 3.0. The following are required:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required | ||
| WGS 700 | Feminist Issues and Scholarship | 3 |
| WGS 701 | Feminisms in Global Context | 3 |
| WGS 710 | Advanced Feminist Theory | 3 |
| or WGS 740 | Advanced Queer Theory | |
| Electives | ||
| Select 6 credits from a combination of WGS courses and approved cross-listed Graduate (G) or Undergraduate/Graduate (U/G) courses in other programs and departments | 6 | |
| Total Credits | 15 | |
No more than 6 credits in U/G courses can apply toward the certificate, and a maximum of 3 credits in independent study may count toward the 15 credits required for the certificate. Thesis and research credits may not be counted toward the certificate.
Approved Electives outside of WGS
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AD LDSP 795 | Women and Leadership in Education | 3 |
| AFRIC 700 | Foundations and Theories in African & African Diaspora Studies | 3 |
| AFRIC 800 | Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods in African & African Diaspora Studies | 3 |
| COMMUN 802 | Marital and Family Communication | 3 |
| COMMUN 860 | Seminar: Issues in Communication: (Topic: Rhetoric of Marriage and Family) | 3 |
| COMMUN 874 | Rhetoric of Women's Rights in the US | 3 |
| COMPLIT 365G | Literatures and Cultures of the Americas: (Intersections of Disability and Gender) | 3 |
| CRM JST 424G | Sex Crimes, Human Trafficking, and the Internet | 3 |
| CRM JST 970 | Readings in Criminal Justice Research: (Women and Criminal Justice) | 3 |
| ENGLISH 465G | Women Writers: | 3 |
| ENGLISH 628G | Seminar in Literature by Women: | 3 |
| ENGLISH/FILMSTD 669G | Screening Sexuality: | 3 |
| ENGLISH 771 | Literature of the English Renaissance: (Early Modern Women Writers) | 3 |
| ENGLISH 776 | Women Writers: | 3 |
| ENGLISH 784 | Topics in Transnational Literature (Transnational Fiction: Unsettling and Gender) | 3 |
| ENGLISH 872 | Seminar in Women Writers: | 3 |
| ENGLISH 876 | Seminar in Media Studies: (Family Photography; Queer Cinema and Television; Feminist Media Studies) | 3 |
| ENGLISH 878 | Seminar in Feminist Critical Theory: | 3 |
| HIST 373G | Topics in Gender and History: | 3 |
| HIST 840 | Colloquium on Global History: (Gender and Imperialism 1830-1940) | 3 |
| HIST 940 | Seminar on Global History: (Gender, Sexuality, and Imperialism) | 3 |
| JAMS 660G | Seminar in Contemporary Issues in Media Studies: (Gender, Race, and Class in Wedding Media) | 3 |
| NURS 763 | Issues in Women's Health and Development | 3 |
| SOC WRK 630G | Families and Poverty | 3 |
| SOC WRK 771 | Development of the Family Over the Life Span | 3 |
| SOCIOL 444G | Sociology of the Body | 3 |
| SOCIOL 925 | Sex and Gender | 3 |
| SOCIOL 927 | Seminar in Sociology of Contemporary Institutions: (Gendered Institutions) | 3 |
Additional Requirements
Transfer Credit
No more than 20% of the required credits may be taken at an institution other than UWM. These courses are subject to Graduate School transfer policy and must be approved by the director of the certificate program.
Grade Point Average Requirement
A minimum cumulative 3.00 grade point average in certificate courses taken at UWM is required.
Articulation with Degree Programs
- Credits and courses required for a certificate may double count toward meeting UWM graduate degree requirements subject to the following restrictions:
- Degree programs must approve the courses from certificates that can double count toward the degree.
- All credits taken in completion of certificate requirements may count towards a UWM graduate degree as long as they do not contribute more than 90% of the total credits needed to obtain the degree. (Note: Students in PhD programs must still complete the minimum residency requirements)
- Certificate courses used toward meeting degree requirements must be completed within the time limit for transfer credit.
- Courses completed for a degree may be counted toward a subsequent certificate, subject to all certificate policy requirements.
- A course may count toward no more than one certificate and one degree.
- Students may not earn a certificate subsequent to a concentration in the same area.
Time Limit
Certificate program time limits shall be established as follows:
- 18 or fewer credits/Three years from initial enrollment in the certificate sequence.
- 19 or more credits/Four years from initial enrollment in the certificate sequence.
For certificates that are designed as add-ons to degree programs and are awarded concurrent with the degree, the time limit shall be the same as that of the degree program.