Global Gender Studies — Ph.D.
Global Gender Studies has had an academic presence at UB for nearly three decades but, as
an academic department, it is relatively new. The graduate program in Global Gender
Studies currently offers master's and doctoral degrees through the Department
of American Studies, its former academic home. Building on the undergraduate
program, our continuing objective is to establish further linkages between
local and global knowledges so as to prepare students with the theoretical
and practical foundations for advanced graduate work and careers at the highest
levels of the profession in college and university teaching and research positions.
The Department of Global Gender Studies is currently preparing an application to SUNY for degree-granting status. With degree-granting status, Global Gender Studies will offer an M.A. in Global Gender Studies and a Ph.D. in Global Gender Studies. Until this is finalized, graduate students who wish to pursue a Master's or Ph.D. with a focus in Global Gender Studies are advised to meet the requirements as set by the Department of American Studies in consultation with Global Gender Studies faculty and consistent with the department's three areas of concentration: Culture and Identities, Women and Global Citizenship, Gender and Public Policy.
Ph.D in Global Gender Studies in Accordance with Requirements for the AMERICAN STUDIES GRADUATE PROGRAM
Coursework: A total of 72 credits beyond the B.A., at least 40 of which are beyond the M.A. Required courses include Topics in Feminist and Gender Theory (two semesters), Topics in Cultural History(two semesters; AMS 503 & 504); one quantitative (WS541) plus one qualitative (WS540) methods course, and at leastone seminar in a Fieldwork Methods course of at least 3 credits which includes theory and practice of fieldwork methods and is approved by the Director of Graduate Studies in Global Gender Studies. In addition, a minimum of 8 intensive seminars. Coursework may include offerings from ancillary departments subject to approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.
Teaching: Working under supervision of a Global Gender Studies faculty, students are encouraged, but not required, to design and teach (individually or collaboratively) an undergraduate course in a major area of Global Gender Studies.
Major concentration: Our Ph.D. program requires you to design, in consultation with your academic advisor(s), a coherent interdisciplinary program of study in a major area in one of three concentrations: Cultures and Identities; Women and Global Citizenship; Gender and Public Policy.
We encourage you to focus at least twelve credit hours as a “minor” in a field outside of your central area of study.
Independent Studies and Directed Readings: We encourage you to fulfill your credit requirement primarily through taking graduate seminars. As you approach the completion of your degree, it may be appropriate for you to register for independent studies or directed readings courses with your major professor or another professor with expertise in your area(s) of interest. To register for such a course, you must complete an Independent Study form, which is in essence a contract between you and the professor in which you establish a reading list, a list of written assignments, a method of evaluation, and deadlines. This form must be signed by both you and the professor. Click here to obtain the Independent Study form (in Microsoft Word format).
Process for completion of Ph.D., in addition to coursework:
Until you establish your doctoral program committee, the department will appoint an academic advisor to supervise and assist you in planning your program. As soon as possible in your Ph.D. studies, and no later than your sixth semester at UB, you should identify the focus of your interests and establish a Doctoral Program Committee. This committee must be composed of a minimum of three members. The major professor (also called a dissertation director or advisor) acts as chair of the committee. All three members must hold the academic rank of Assistant Professor or above and must be Members of the UB Graduate Faculty. To form a committee, you need to ask three such professors who have expertise in your fields of study to serve on your committee. At least one of them should be a member of the Global Gender Studies Department; the others should be core, adjunct or affiliated Global Gender Studies faculty. (Note: Your exam committee and your dissertation committee can be, but need not be, comprised of the same members.)
The Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination involves written essays on each of three questions developed by you, the student, in consultation with your committee and a subsequent two-hour oral examination. The goal is for you to develop a comprehensive, broad knowledge of the field(s) in which you are specializing. Through the written and oral exam process, you are expected to synthesize and integrate your learning. The exams should demonstrate that you are in dialogue with the broad literature concerning problems discussed in the exam questions. To achieve this, readings should be selected to assure a broad background in your chosen fields. You also should demonstrate the ability to make interconnections across fields. Your exam must cover Critical analysis, theory, and methodology plus two out of the three of the following areas, as they relate to your chosen specialization:
1. Globalization and gender
2. Culture, identity and gender: e.g., global literary discourses, media, music, popular culture
3. Gender and policy: e.g., health policy, social policy
Process:
1. Ask the faculty who are best suited as mentors in your fields of interest if they are willing and able to serve on your Comprehensive Exam committee. (These may be but do not have to be the same faculty who will advise you on your dissertation.)
2. Draft questions and a bibliography for each of the three areas that you will cover on your exam. Each of the three bibliographies should include recently published 10-15 major books and articles from peer reviewed journals that are central to the field in question (publications published within the last few years), and are approved by your committee.
3. Consult with your committee members and rework the questions and bibliographies in response to their feedback.
4. Once you and your committee have agreed on the final versions of the questions and the bibliographies, you must submit a complete copy of them (with the attached cover sheet -- Comprehensive Questions and Bibliographies Cover Sheet) to the Director of Graduate Studies for approval. This copy must include signatures from all three of your committee members indicating their approval. You should then devote some months to intensive reading and preparation. In addition to becoming thoroughly familiar with the sources in your bibliographies, you may find it helpful to read reviews and critical essays that comment on and contextualize your primary sources.
5. Set a date for the exam. The three examination essays should be written. The amount that students write varies, of course, but experience suggests that answers of at least 10-15 pages (typed, double-spaced) are appropriate to the kinds of exam questions you ought to be developing.
6. Write your exam under your major professor’s supervision and provide copies of it to each member of your committee.
7. Set a date and time for the oral exam within two weeks of the written exam. Make sure all members of your committee are available at that time.
Guidelines for Oral Examination:
The oral exam is developed from the written exam and typically last for two hours. The exam committee may want to follow up on issues raised in the written essays or to discuss readings mentioned in the essays but not discussed at length. The oral exam also permits you to elaborate on points that you feel may need more attention than was possible in the written essay. In addition to reviewing your answers and discussing your responses, your committee may suggest refinements and give you feedback toward your dissertation.
At the end of the oral examination, if your committee agrees that you have passed they need to fill out and sign the attached form (click here for Comprehensive Examination Form). This form must be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies to be kept in your academic file.
Normally you should expect to file an Application to Candidacy after six semesters of full-time enrollment or when you have completed your course work and are preparing for or have passed your comprehensive examination. You should definitely complete the Application to Candidacy before you begin writing your dissertation. The filing of this application indicates that you are entering the final stages of degree completion. If you plan to graduate in the spring, you should submit the form, complete with the signature of your major professor and/or committee, to the Director of Graduate Studies in Global Gender Studies by October at the very latest. Copies of the form are available from the Graduate School’s website (http://www.grad.buffalo.edu/)
Note: Your ATC must be accompanied by course contracts/records of work, signed by faculty, that describe in detail the work you have done for each independent study or directed readings course on your ATC.
With the help of your dissertation advisor, you should write a dissertation proposal abstract (five-page maximum), which must be approved by your dissertation committee. After initial approval, you must arrange for an oral colloquium or defense of your dissertation proposal in which you meet with your committee to discuss your proposal and to gain their feedback. All three members of your committee must then sign a form certifying their approval, and you must bring this form to the Director of Graduate Studies in Women’s Studies for final approval. A copy of this form will be placed in your academic file.
A thesis or book of fifty thousand or more words, the dissertation should be an original contribution to the field of Global Gender Studies. Dissertations are expected to be significant, meaning that they should contribute to civic and world life as well as to the store of knowledge. It is highly advised that graduate student present part of the dissertation findings at national/ regional conference prior to the oral defense of doctoral dissertation.
Note: With the help of your advisor, you need to select and follow a consistent style manual (such as the MLA Handbook or The Chicago Manual of Style) in the preparation of your dissertation. The Graduate School will accept any self-consistent format that follows conventions of a recognized discipline. See the Graduate School Policies and Procedures Manual for their requirements regarding pagination, typing, and reproduction.
The Outside Reader: In addition to the required three committee members, an outside reader (chosen by the department) must examine the doctoral dissertation. An outside reader is a qualified individual appointed outside the student’s department who normally holds the highest degree in his or her respective field. Whenever possible, departments are encouraged to invite faculty from other academic and professional institutions to accept this professional responsibility. If the chosen outside reader is from within the University at Buffalo, she or he normally is a member of the graduate faculty. The outside reader provides an independent evaluation of the student’s research. Normally this would be limited to an examination of the final draft of the dissertation.
The outside reader's letter must be received and approved by the Graduate School BEFORE a defense can be scheduled.
When approaching the completion of your dissertation, you are required to schedule a dissertation defense in consultation with your committee. This oral defense must be attended by the candidate’s major professor and graduate committee. You must inform the Directors of Graduate Studies in
Global Gender Studies and American Studies at least a week in advance of the scheduled defense so that the Department of Global Gender Studies and the Department of American Studies can post a public announcement of the defense.
(Please download and review the Doctoral Candidate Check Sheet for Graduation, in Microsoft Word format.)
In order to graduate, the following must be on file in the Graduate School:
* an approved Application to Candidacy (with all the necessary attachments, including original transcripts)
* an approval from the outside reader
* one unbound copy of the dissertation
* survey, microfilm and Student Accounts forms
* one extra copy of the title page and abstract (less than 350 words) with major advisor’s name and title appearing where appropriate
* an M-Form
The M-Form (available from the Global Gender Studies office) is submitted to the Graduate School by the department to certify that the defense of the dissertation was satisfactorily completed and that ALL academic requirements for the degree have been satisfied. This form must be signed by the major professor, the committee members, and the director of graduate studies. You should make sure that the form is signed after your defense and double-check with the department to make sure that it is submitted on time.
Additional rules to remember:
1. You must maintain continuous registration until the degree is conferred.
2. You must fulfill a minimum residency requirement of one year (24 credit hours), which must include two semesters of continuous full-time study in residence under the auspices of UB.
3. Rules regarding transfer credits:
a. A maximum of 32 credit hours of previous graduate work related to the field of Global Gender Studies may transfer into your Ph.D. program.
b. Only course work that has been taken within ten years before the date of your admission into UB’s Global Gender Studies Ph.D. program can count toward the Ph.D. degree. You may petition the Graduate School to accept older course work if you can provide compelling evidence (e.g., a record of ongoing teaching, research and publishing in the field) that the course work is still current in the field and current in your mind.
c. You may not transfer credits from any course in which you earned a grade lower than a B.
d. At least 36 credits in your Ph.D. program must be exclusive to our Ph.D. In other words, you must earn at least 36 credits on top of any credits that you have applied toward an M.A., even if you earned the M.A. in Global Gender Studies at UB.
Academic Review / Probation
The Graduate School’s policy on academic review and probation states that any graduate student who:
1. receives a grade of “U”, “F”, or “D” in any course required for completion of a degree program (e.g., seminar or research course, practicum, student teaching course, internships, field course, or similar application course of thesis), or
2. falls below the minimum academic requirements stated above [earlier in the Graduate School Policies and Procedures Manual], or
3. indicates a lack of ability as determined by the program faculty will receive an immediate academic review by his or her graduate program faculty. Upon completion of the academic review, the graduate program faculty may place the student on academic probation.
In accordance with this policy, the Global Gender Studies Graduate Studies Steering Committee working with American Studies Graduate Studies Steering Committee will review each graduate student’s transcripts at the beginning of each semester. Any student whose work falls into the categories above, who has two or more outstanding incompletes, and/or who is failing to make demonstrable progress toward the degree will be reviewed. If the committee determines that we have serious cause for concern about the student’s record, that student will be placed on academic probation. Notice of probation will be made in writing and will indicate the terms of the probation and its removal. If the terms are not met, the student may be terminated from our graduate program.