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Thu May 25 16:53:16 EST 2000
Auth: S Steele, ITS Web and Internet Facilities
Copyright © Monash University 1999 - All Rights Reserved - Caution
Women's
studies is an interdisciplinary field of inquiry which is broadly concerned
with the history and representation of women and sexual difference and with the
complex construction of gender relations in the past, present and future. It
also operates from the premise that women's different experiences, sexual
subjectivities, ideas, needs, and interests are valid in their own right and
should be incorporated into our processes of knowledge formation. In this way,
women's studies attempts to correct the absence of material on women and gender
relations which for a long time characterised more traditional areas of study.
Women's studies also emphasises the diversity of women's experience. Beyond
general considerations of the changing status of women and where dominant ideas
and assumptions about women and sexual difference come from, women's studies
also covers specific issues such as how different cultures shape women's
identities and sexualities, shifting cultural and historical modes of
femininity and masculinity, how questions of sex or gender relate to questions
of class and race, how women are represented in film, literature and the media,
the relationship between gender and technology, and the role of women and
gender in important political, economic, sociological and philosophical
debates.
The aim of the graduate program is to provide the opportunity for a range of
links between staff and students not only between a variety of disciplines
within the Faculty of Arts, but also with several vocationally oriented and
professional courses offered by other faculties. The Centre for Women's Studies
and Gender Research organises a series of regular staff and graduate seminars
on topics of general concern to those engaged in feminist and women's studies.
Research students are normally expected to attend these seminars. The centre
also organises occasional symposia and conferences. Areas of particular
research strength include postcolonialism, indigeniety, gender and cultural
difference; feminist cultural studies; women's writing and feminist literary
theory; feminist film theory and studies of performance and contemporary art;
feminist anthropological theory; and cross-cultural gender relations and
identities.
Also see entry for 'Humanities, communications and social sciences' (gender
research).
Course code: 0017 · Course fees: Local students - HECS; international students - $A12,000 · Course director: Denise Cuthbert
Candidates with an honours degree or MQual with H1 or H2A result (including a distinction or above result in the research component) in women's studies and gender research (or equivalent) are eligible for admission. This degree is normally completed in one-and-a-half years full-time or three years part-time study.
Candidates are required to submit a thesis of 25,000 to 35,000 words (66 per cent). The topic will be of an interdisciplinary nature in the area of women's studies chosen in close consultation with the supervisor and graduate adviser. Students must also take two subjects totalling 24 points, one of which must be WSM5180 (Sex, power, self: feminist interventions in contemporary discourse) unless completed at fourth-year level, an elective selected from among the fifth-year subjects listed at the end of this section. The minimum pass grade for subjects in the Master of Arts in Women's Studies and gender research by coursework and research is 60 C; in other words, a grade of credit or above is required in every subject and for the thesis.
Program
code: 1988 · Program fees: Local students - HECS; international students -
$A12,000 · Program director: Maryanne Dever
The MQual program in women's studies is a one-year full-time or two-year
part-time program that provides a pathway into postgraduate research. Through a
combination of coursework subjects and a research component, the program offers
students the opportunity to broaden their knowledge base in the area of women's
studies and gender research, and to develop skills of analysis, communication
and research necessary for further postgraduate work. Students with a result of
H2A and above (and at least a result of distinction or above in the research
component) can apply for entry into a masters or PhD program.
Successful completion of a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in women's studies and gender research (or equivalent), with a credit average (or above) in the third part of the major sequence.
Students are required to complete one core subject (WSM4180 Sex, power, self: feminist interventions in contemporary discourse), one elective subject and a research component (WSM4005) totalling 48 credit points. Part-time students will be required to complete WSM4180 and an elective fourth-year-level subject in the first year and WSM4005 in the second year of the program.
For full details of these subjects, including their availability this year, consult the relevant department or centre entry.
Check the subject listing in this handbook for semester and availability.
wwwdev@monash.edu.au
Thu May 25 16:53:16 EST 2000