Women's and Gender Studies

• M.A. Women's Studies

• M.A. Women’s and Gender Studies with Specialization in African Studies

M.A. Women's and Gender Studies

Academic Regulations

See the General Regulations section of this Calendar.

Academic standing of B- or higher must be obtained in each course counted towards the fulfillment of the degree requirements. Candidates must also maintain a CGPA of 9.0 or higher and achieve Satisfactory or better on the MA thesis and its oral defence.

Admission Requirements

The minimum requirement for admission to the MA program in Women's and Gender Studies is a BA Honours degree in Women's and Gender Studies or related areas with high honours standing. Students who have completed a degree with a significant focus on gender and gender-related coursework from disciplines including Sociology, History, English, Philosophy, Anthropology, Canadian Studies and Political Science, for example, will be considered for admission to the program. Applicants without the requisite background may be required to take a maximum of 2.0 credits from designated courses at the undergraduate level in Women's and Gender Studies in addition to their normal MA program requirements.

Qualifying Year Program

Applicants without a B.A. Honours degree in Women's and Gender Studies but who have a three year degree with a Women's and Gender Studies major, minor or a degree in a related discipline with a minimum average of B+ will be required to complete successfully a qualifying year of full-time study, before proceeding to apply to the Master's program. At this time, the Institute will determine the student's eligibility to enter the program.

Accelerated Pathway 

The accelerated pathway in  Women and Gender Studies is a flexible and individualized plan of graduate study for students in their final year of a Carleton B.A. Honours degree in Women and Gender Studies.

Program Requirements

The MA degree in Women's and Gender Studies requires the satisfactory completion of 5.0 credits, distributed according to one of the following three options (students are not required to choose one option over the other until the end of the first year of study):

M.A. Women's and Gender Studies

M.A. Women's and Gender Studies with Specialization in African Studies

Selection of Courses - African Studies

The courses listed below (all are worth 0.5 credit) are relevant to students of African Studies and could, with the approval of the specific requirements of the units involved, be used as courses to help fulfill degree requirements. There are also often graduate courses and 4000-level courses in a number of units at Carleton that are offered on an ad hoc basis that have significant content appropriate to African Studies. To have any such course count towards their degree requires approval of the Director of the Institute of African Studies when it is being offered.

Note: the number of spaces in graduate courses offered by other departments may be limited, and registration may be conditional upon obtaining the prior approval of the department concerned. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that permission is obtained from the appropriate department prior to registering in any of the following courses.

Elective courses

Electives may be taken from a selection of courses offered outside the program in a related discipline, subject to the approval of the Graduate Supervisor.

Elective courses may include but are not limited to:

Progress through the program

The first year of study is essentially the same for all full-time students entering the program regardless of whether their intention is to pursue the Thesis, Research Essay or Course work option (the schedule for program completion for part-time students is in consultation with the unit).  All full-time students will be expected to complete the core feminist theory and methodologies courses in the first year (typically WGST 5906 will be offered in the fall term and WGST 5907 in the winter); WGST 5905 [1.0] ; and, a further 1.0 credit chosen from among those electives on offer that year.

At the end of the winter term of the first year of study, and in consultation with the Graduate Supervisor, full-time students will be required to declare their intention to pursue the Thesis, Research Essay, or Course work option. The deadline for this decision will normally be in writing on or before April 1st.

Thesis option

In the fall of the second year of study, all full-time students will be expected to submit a research proposal that has been approved by their Thesis supervisor. The deadline for submitting the proposal is September 15.

Research Essay option

In the fall of the second year of study, all full-time students will be expected to submit a research proposal that has been approved by their Research Essay supervisor. The deadline for submitting the proposal is September 15.  Students pursuing the Research Essay option will also be required to complete two additional half-course electives. Typically, these courses will be completed in the fall term of the second year.

Course work option

Students pursuing the course work option will be required to complete four additional half-course electives. Typically, these courses will be completed over the fall and winter terms of the second year.