The Department of Feminist Studies, with almost fifty core and affiliated faculty members in over nineteen disciplines, serves as a model of interdisciplinary work and scholarly collaboration at UCSB. Feminist Studies doctoral emphasis students are required to complete successfully four seminars that will enhance their understanding of feminist pedagogy, feminist theory, and topics relevant to the study of women, gender and/or sexuality. Feminist Studies as an inter-departmental set of conversations and intellectual questions supports a multifaceted undergraduate curriculum at UCSB. Doctoral emphasis students are encouraged to apply to teach Feminist Studies courses as teaching assistants and associates as part of their Feminist Studies training.

Applicants must first be admitted to, or currently enrolled in, a UCSB PhD program participating in the Feminist Studies graduate emphasis. Anthropology; Chicana/Chicano Studies; Comparative Literature; Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology; English; History; History of Art and Architecture; Linguistics; Music; Political Science; Religious Studies; Sociology; Spanish and Portuguese; or Theater and Dance. Candidates complete four graduate courses and select a member of the Feminist Studies faculty or affiliated faculty to serve on their dissertation committees. Applications to the Feminist Studies Doctoral Emphasis may be submitted at any stage of PhD work, and applications will be considered throughout the year.

Doctoral Emphasis Coursework

Students pursuing the emphasis in Feminist Studies will successfully complete four graduate courses that have been approved by the Doctoral Emphasis advisor.

1. Feminist Theories. A one quarter graduate seminar in interdisciplinary feminist theory offered by any department, including Feminist Studies 250 AA-ZZ.
2. Issues in Feminist Epistemology and Pedagogy (Feminist Studies 270). A one quarter seminar that considers Feminist Studies as a distinct field. It offers an interdisciplinary exploration of feminist theories of knowledge production and teaching practices. Readings cover past and present critical debates and provide theoretical approaches through which to analyze interdisciplinary epistemological and pedagogical issues.
3. Graduate Seminar in Feminist Studies (Feminist Studies 200-290 or 594 AA-ZZ). A one quarter seminar offered by a Feminist Studies faculty member on topics of central concern to the field.
   Or,
   Research Practicum (Feminist Studies 280). A cross-disciplinary seminar in which fundamental questions in contemporary feminist research practice are considered in light of students’ own graduate projects.
4. Topical Seminar. A one quarter graduate seminar that addresses topics relevant to the study of women, gender, and/or sexuality. This seminar must be taken outside the student’s home department; it may be fulfilled either by another graduate seminar in Feminist Studies or a seminar in another department.

For more information: UCSB Feminist Studies Doctoral Emphasis Website