Women's Studies in Religion

Master's Degree in Applied Women's Studies

Master's Degree in Women's Studies in Religion

WSR PhD Program Structure

The PhD program is designed to prepare students for positions in Women’s Studies programs and in Schools of Religion. Coursework is divided between women’s studies and religion, as are the qualifying exams.

Prerequisites

Students may be admitted into the 48 unit PhD program with either 24 units of religion courses or 24 units of women’s studies courses taken at the master’s level, or some combination of the two equaling 24 units. Students entering with 24 units in women’s studies will need to take a greater proportion of religion courses in their 48 units, conversely students entering with 24 units of religion will need to take a greater proportion of women’s studies courses.

Concentrations

For students applying for women’s studies positions, their concentration is religion, however students applying for religion positions will need to demonstrate a specialization within the field of religion, a concentration. Courses dealing specifically with religion must be concentrated in any of the areas offered within the Department of Religion, such as Hebrew Bible; Biblical Studies; New Testament; Philosophy of Religion and Theology; Theology, Ethics and Culture; and History of Christianity. The coursework within the field of religion must be focused in the area of concentration. The School of Religion offers a range of doctoral degrees in religion, all of which may be used to build a concentration. Possible areas for a concentration might be Hebrew Bible; Biblical Studies; New Testament; Christian Origins; History of Christianity; History of Christian Thought; Theology; Philosophy of Religion and Theology; Theology, Ethics and Culture; Comparative Religion, Religion in the U.S.

Advisor

Students entering the 48 unit PhD program are encouraged to ask a faculty member in their area of concentration to be their advisor. (See list of current WSR faculty). Students will work with their advisors to plan their course of study, to design their qualifying exams and eventually to develop their dissertation proposal. Students entering the 72 unit PhD will be advised by the director of the WSR program.

Language Requirements

Students in the Women’s Studies and Religion program must pass the language examinations demonstrating proficiency in reading French and German scholarship in the fields of women’s studies and/or religion. Students doing a concentration in historical or biblical studies may be required to demonstrate a reading ability in other languages as well. The importance of additional languages will be determined in consultation with the advisor.

Qualifying Examinations

Students may begin preparing for qualifying exams during the last semester of coursework. Students are required to take five written qualifying exams: two on feminist methodologies, such as feminist theory, feminist historiography, feminist ethnography, feminist pedagogy, post-colonial and subaltern theory, etc., and two qualifying exams in religion in the area of the student’s concentration.

The fifth qualifying exam is the dissertation proposal, written at home and turned in at the time the student takes the qualifying exams. The proposal should be 15 pages in length and explain the research problem addressed, include a tentative thesis, present a discussion of work of other scholars on the problem and provide a preliminary bibliography.

The oral defense of the qualifying exam will cover all five exams and include the dissertation proposal.

Dissertation Committee

The dissertation proposal is developed in consultation with the student’s advisor. Also in consultation with the advisor, the student should ask two other faculty members to serve on the dissertation committee. The committee members are normally faculty of CGU, CST or the Claremont Colleges. Students may also invite an outside (fourth) reader to serve on the committee as well. Faculty may be invited to serve on the committee either before or after the proposal is drafted, as deemed appropriate by the dissertation advisor.

WSR Courses Offered Recent WSR PhDs