Graduate Certificate
The Susan B. Anthony Institute (SBAI) for Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies offers a formal graduate certificate in gender, sexuality, and women's studies for students who are enrolled in a graduate degree (master's or PhD) program at the 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ and for non-matriculated students who complete four or more courses from at least two 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ graduate programs.
This graduate certificate program provides:
- Analyses of contemporary theoretical frameworks and methodologies
- Historical perspectives on gender, sexuality, and women's studies within and across disciplines
- Explorations of gender and sexuality issues as they intersect with race, class, ethnicity, and more
- Connections between academic and non-academic practices
The certificate becomes part of the student's record and serves to document training in gender, sexuality, and women's studies.
Requirements
To complete the graduate certificate students must:
- Complete and submit a certificate plan application—Although this is only required for non-matriculated students, we recommend all students complete this step to ensure their plan will fulfill the requirements of the certificate before they complete their courses.
- Complete and submit the final graduate certificate application.
Certificate plan applications and final certificate applications are accepted on a rolling basis. If you wish to receive the award during our commencement ceremony in May, please submit your completed application no later than March 1 of that year. Please email all completed materials in a single PDF file to sbai@rochester.edu.
Curriculum
Programs of study are developed in consultation with an advisor from the Curriculum Committee. That advisor mentors or arranges mentorship for each graduate student, helping them choose relevant classes and make sure that their program of study is cohesive.
Students interested in earning the certificate should begin to plan their curriculum as soon as possible. To being the process, a student must meet with a current Curriculum Committee member. Together, a certificate plan—a trajectory of courses that will fulfill the terms of the certificate—will be planned. Committee members will follow students’ progress each semester to assure that the certificate plan goals are reached.
Students are encouraged to participate not only in the courses named in their certificate plan, but in related Susan B. Anthony Institute events and research.
Eligible Courses
Students must successfully complete four graduate-level courses in gender, sexuality, and women's studies. The courses must be drawn from at least two departments or programs at the 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ and must include at least two courses considered "Methodological and Theoretical Approaches" and two courses considered "Applied Courses." Successful completion of the courses is determined by the departments or programs through which the courses are offered.
Portfolio
Once the course load is complete, students must prepare a portfolio and get a letter of recommendation to be submitted with the graduate certificate application.
Students compile a portfolio that includes work completed in these courses, a curriculum vitae, and a statement about how this interdisciplinary work in gender, sexuality, and women's studies has affected their writing, research, and teaching. The portfolio is submitted to and evaluated by the Curriculum Committee.
Letter of Recommendation
A letter of recommendation should be submitted from the student's departmental advisor addressing the student’s competence in the area of gender, sexuality, and women’s studies. Please have the letter emailed as a PDF to sbai@rochester.edu. Once everything has been completed, the Curriculum Committee will make a final review of the certificate’s merits and determine if the certificate is to be granted.
For more information, please contact the SBAI office at (585) 275-8318 or email sbai@rochester.edu.
Courses
Course offerings vary from year to year. For information about current listings, please contact our office.
Below is a sample list of courses that may be used for the advanced certificate. The list is not exhaustive, and courses that are not listed may be applicable to this advanced certificate’s requirements. Courses to be included would need to be reviewed and approved by the Curriculum Committee. A complete list of offerings with course descriptions in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies may be found on our courses page.
Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies
GSW 467: Changing Genres of Erotica
GSW 404: Feminist Film Theory
GSW 444: Mutilated Bodies, Mutilated Discourse
GSW 473: Sex and Gender in the American City
GSW 472: Gender and Sexuality in the 20th Century
GSW 496: International Human Rights
GSW 483: Orality, Language, and Literacy
GSW 446: Jane Austen and her Contemporaries
GSW 416: Restoration and Eighteenth Century Drama
GSW 458: Women’s Lives and Letters, America 1830-1880
GSW 453: Gender and Language in Literature, Film, and Society
GSW 489: Problems of Western Civilization
GSW 456: Spanish American Women Writers
GSW 442: Major Authors: The Brontes
GSW 423: Madness, Marriage, Monstrosity
GSW 407: Carnal Speaking: Discourse and the Body in Medieval English Literature
GSW 454: The Monstrous Feminine
GSW 425: Women, Cloth, and Culture
English
ENG 465: Race and Gender in Popular Film
ENG 406: Goddess and Warrior: Medieval Celtic Literature
History
HIS 464: The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom
HIS 481: Just and Unjust Wars
Warner School of Graduate Education
ED 485: College Student Development Theory
ED 506: Concepts in Social Science Research
EDE 440: LGBTQ Issues in Education and Human Development