The Interdisciplinary Graduate Concentration in Women’s Studies is designed to enhance the master’s and doctoral programs at the University, which prepare students for careers in education at all levels, social service work, health services, business, public policy, government and nongovernmental organizations, and research. Students in the program will gain a more complete understanding of how the social construction of gender has influenced the roles, contributions, and experience of women in many different cultures, now and in the past. Such awareness can help them better understand our contemporary world with its changing roles for women and men alike. To the gender analysis of any situation, they will bring knowledge of the complex ways in which gender interacts with race, social class, sexual orientation, and other forms of diversity. They will understand the connection between Women’s Studies scholarship and the scholarship of other disciplines. Students will develop an appreciation for the connections between Women’s Studies scholarship, activism, and social change, historically and in the present.

Graduate work in Women’s Studies is offered at The University of Maine through the Women in the Curriculum and Women’s Studies Program, which also administers an undergraduate major and minor. Students can use the interdisciplinary graduate concentration to enhance master’s and doctoral degrees offered by other departments. (A partial list of cooperating units includes Communication, Education and Human Development, English, History, Nursing, Psychology, Theatre, and Social Work.) It can also provide a focus for the interdisciplinary Ph.D. or Ed.D. degree programs or for the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies. A Women’s Studies advisor who is a member of the graduate faculty will assist each student in designing a program of study appropriate to her or his goals and will be part of the evaluation process. Students and advisors will be matched according to the students’ areas of interest.

Requirements

1. Candidates for any master’s degree and the Certificate of Advanced Study in Education are required to take at least 9 credits including WST 510 and another WST course. The additional course(s) can be chosen, with the approval of the student’s Women’s Studies advisor, from WST courses or departmental Women’s Studies electives at the 400-level or above. At least 2 courses must be at the 500-level or above. If the student’s degree program has no thesis or comprehensive exam, there will be some type of written evaluation of the work in Women’s Studies.
2. Candidates for the Ph.D. or Ed.D. are required to take at least 12 credits, including WST 510 and WST 520. WST 580 and WST 610 are highly recommended. The additional course(s) can be chosen, with the approval of the student’s Women’s Studies advisor, from WST courses or Women’s Studies departmental electives at the 400-level or above.

Students who are taking thesis credits in their departments and writing Women’s Studies theses or dissertations can use up to 2 thesis credits toward their Women’s Studies concentrations if they take WST 610 to make up 3 credits.

For More Information

Questions can be answered by the faculty listed or by contacting the program director, Ann Schonberger, at 207-581-1228 or e-mail ann.schonberger@umit.maine.edu Visit our web page at www.umaine.edu/wic/.

Graduate Faculty

Ann Schonberger, Ph.D. (Wisconsin at Madison 1976), Director of the Women in the Curriculum and Women’s Studies Program, Professor of Mathematics. Women and education, gender differences in science and mathematics, mathematics education.

Elizabeth J. Allan, Ph.D. (The Ohio State University, 1999), Assistant Professor of Higher Education Leadership. Gender and education, critical and poststructural feminist theory, equity policy in higher education, sexual violence, feminist research methodologies.

Sandra Berkowitz, Ph.D. (Minnesota, 1994), Assistant Professor of Communication. Jewish women’s discourse and history; U.S. women’s rights discourse; gender, religion, and peace; feminist rhetorical theory and criticism.

Sandra Butler, Ph.D. (Washington University, St. Louis, 1991), Associate Professor of Social Work. Social Policy, economic security, welfare, health, and well being of women across the life span, especially related to older women and lesbians.

Sandra L. Caron, Ph.D. (Syracuse, 1986), Professor of Family Relations/Human Sexuality. Women’s sexuality, cross-cultural perspectives on sexuality, family studies.

Margaret Cruikshank, Ph.D. (Loyola of Chicago, 1969), Lecturer in Women’s Studies and Faculty Associate of the Center on Aging. Women and aging, LGBT studies.

Nancy Fishwick, Ph.D. (Case Western Reserve, 1993), Associate Professor of Nursing. Women’s health, domestic violence, rural health, primary healthcare.

Mazie Hough, Ph.D. (Maine, 1997), Associate Director of the Women in the Curriculum and Women’s Studies Program, Graduate Faculty in History. U.S. women’s history, Maine history, adoption and reproductive policies, feminist research methods.

Naomi Jacobs, Ph.D. (Missouri, 1982), Professor of English. Women’s literature, British and American fiction, utopian literature. (On leave, Fall 2003)

Renate Klein, Ph.D. (Marburg, 1989), Assistant Professor of Family Studies. Cross-cultural studies of domestic violence, family studies.

Kristin Langellier, Ph.D. (Southern Illinois, 1980), Professor of Communication. Performance Studies, women and communication, feminist research methods.

Kathleen March, Ph.D. (SUNY, Buffalo, 1979), Professor of Spanish. Women of the Hispanic world, feminist literary criticism, gender and language, gender and nationalism.

Jessica Miller, Ph.D. (Connecticut, 1999), Assistant Professor of Philosophy. Feminist philosophy, feminist theory, feminist ethics, feminist approaches to biomedical ethics.

Jane Snider, M.F.A. (Memphis, 1976), Associate Professor of Theatre. Women playwrights, costume design, stage makeup.

Nathan Stormer, Ph.D. (Minnesota, 1997), Associate Professor of Communication. Feminist rhetoric, reproductive rights, culture and discourse theory. (On leave, Fall 2003, Spring 2004)

Marli Weiner, Ph.D. (Rochester, 1986), Associate Professor of History. U.S. women’s history, history of the South, African American history, history of medicine.