Feminist doctoral program http://www.gwss.umn.edu

http://www.gwss.umn.edu

UNIQUE EXPERIENCE
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Interdisciplinary research training
Possibilities for collaboration
Feminist pedagogy
Public engagement
Departmental governance
Close mentoring
Graduate conference travel funding http://www.gwss.umn.edu

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Women of color feminism
Transnational feminism and queer studies
Critical sexuality and queer studies
Feminist science, environmental, health, and disability studies http://www.gwss.umn.edu

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Our interdisciplinary curriculum emphasizes the interaction of social conditions such as class, ethnicity, race, sexualities, and national identity with gender. These interactions and their effects are examined in cultural productions such as media representations or colonialist paradigms in social systems and relations of power; in aspects of science such as genetics and new technologies; in epistemologies and philosophy; and in professional areas such as health care to public policy.
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We have a twofold commitment to develop scholars who will:Advance interdisciplinary feminist research; and integrate an interdisciplinary feminist perspective into disciplinary research
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We have a wide variety of courses that includes:
Transnational feminism
Social movements
Critical sexualities
Environmental justice
Intersections of race, ethnicity, and nationalism http://www.gwss.umn.edu

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Required Core Courses (12 credits)
◦ GWSS 8107 Feminist Pedagogies (3 cr)
◦ GWSS 8108 Genealogies of Feminist Theory (3 cr)
◦ GWSS 8109 Feminist Knowledge Production (3 cr)
◦ GWSS 8997 Feminist Research and Writing ( 3 cr)
Colloquia Credits (4 credits)
◦ Feminist Studies Colloquium (1 cr, 4 semesters)
GWSS Seminars (6 credits, choose from two)
◦ GWSS 8210 Feminist Theory and Praxis (3 cr)
◦ GWSS 8220 Science, Technology, and Environmental Justice (3 cr)
◦ GWSS 8230 Cultural Criticism and Media Studies (3 cr)
◦ GWSS 8240 Transnational, Postcolonial, Diaspora (3 cr)
◦ GWSS 8250 Nation, State, Citizenship (3 cr)
◦ GWSS 8260 Race, Representation, and Resistance (3 cr)
◦ GWSS 8270 Theories of Body (3 cr)
◦ GWSS 8280 Critical Sexuality Studies (3 cr)
Research Methods and Tools (6 credits)
Minor/External Supporting Program (12 credits taken in other departments or as part of a minor in another graduate program)
Doctoral Thesis Credits (24 credits taken to support progress towards degree milestones http://www.gwss.umn.edu

http://www.gwss.umn.edu

I pursued the FEST Ph.D. because of the long history of advanced feminist research at the U.
Moreover, I was drawn in by the strong interdisciplinary nature of the program and the faculty’s diverse academic endeavors. GWSS is absolutely the right “home” for my graduate career because of the support I receive for my own interdisciplinary project.
I also cherish the small size of our department because of how it fosters close and personal intellectual relationships with my peers.
While I didn’t think of it when applying, I am now grateful for the amazing opportunities we have in GWSS to teach and develop our own pedagogical practices and philosophies. I am certain I will leave this program as strong and educator as I am and academic.
– Angela Carter, PhD candidate (queer studies and disability studies) http://www.gwss.umn.edu

Ananya Dance Theater
Ananya Chatterjea (Dance and GWSS)
Over eighty affiliate faculty from over 30 different programs, departments, colleges and institutes at the
University. http://www.gwss.umn.edu

The feminist studies doctoral program at the University of
Minnesota is distinctive for the diversity of student research interests that faculty, staff, and fellow grad students support with enthusiasm. To me, this demonstrates our program’s refreshing, forward thinking and inclusive stance on the breadth of pursuits considered constitutive of feminist studies.
– Michelle Garvey, PhD candidate (environmental feminist and justice) http://www.gwss.umn.edu

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Colloquium series
Journal Club
Graduate group on sexuality studies
Graduate group on critical race studies
Pedagogy Workshops http://www.gwss.umn.edu

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Five years of funding
Eligible for departmental, collegiate, and university-wide fellowships
Teaching assistantships as graders and/or instructors
Research assistantships
Summer funding opportunities available http://www.gwss.umn.edu

Twenty two students have completed the doctoral program since its inception in
1998
Many have been placed in tenure track positions, postdoctoral fellowships, and visiting professor positions http://www.gwss.umn.edu

2013 Dissertation Titles
Charlotte Karem Albrecht: "Peddling Arab American
Histories: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Early Syrian American
Communities.'" Adviser: Jigna Desai.
Diane Detournay: "The Encounter Between Feminism and
Liberalism: An Itinerary of 'Woman.'" Advisers: Jigna Desai and
Richa Nagar.
Aniruddha Dutta: "Globalizing through the Vernacular:
Gender/sexual Transnationalism and the Making of Sexual
Minorities in Eastern India." Advisers: Jigna Desai and Richa
Nagar.
Xiumei Pu: "Imagining the Decolonial Spirit: Ecowomanist
Literature and Criticism in the Chinese Diaspora." Adviser: Edén
Torres.
http://www.gwss.umn.edu

DR. CHARLOTTE ALBRECHT
Postdoctoral Fellow –
Denison University http://www.gwss.umn.edu

DR. ANIRUDDHA DUTTA
Assistant Professor –
University of Iowa http://www.gwss.umn.edu

DR. XIUMEI PU
Visiting Assistant Professor –
University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire http://www.gwss.umn.edu

DR. DIANE DETOURNAY
Postdoctoral Fellow–
University of Western Cape,
South Africa http://www.gwss.umn.edu

2012 Dissertation Titles
Patricia Connolly: "Staging Cross-Border (Reading)
Alliances: Feminist Testimonials at Work." Advisers: Amy
Kaminsky and Richa Nagar.
Jessica Giusti : "Burlesque Female Behemoths":
Transgressions of Fat, Femme Burlesque. Advisers: Ananya
Chatterjea and Jacquelyn Zita.
Yeonbo Jeong : Science, Nation, and Women's Bodies:
Economies of Reproductive Tissues and Stem Cell Research in
South Korea. Advisers: Susan Craddock and Jacquelyn Zita.
http://www.gwss.umn.edu

2011 Dissertation Titles
Papori Bora: “The Nation and its Margins: Reading Gender and the Politics of Sovereignty in India’s Northeast” Advisers:
Jigna Desai and Richa Nagar http://www.gwss.umn.edu

GWSS undergrads participate in class project http://www.gwss.umn.edu

2010 Dissertation Titles
Kandace Creel-Falcón: “This is Our Home!: Chicana Oral
Histories:(Story)Telling Life, Love and Identity in the Midwest”
Advisers: Edén Torres and Lisa Albrecht
Helen Crump: “Bodied Knowledges (Where Our Blood is
Born): Maternal Narratives and Articulations of Black Diaspora
Identity” Advisers: Amy Kaminsky and Gwen Pough
Eileen Muller-Myrdahl: “Orientalist Knowledges at the
European Periphery: Norwegian Racial Projects, 1970-2005”
Adviser: Jigna Desai
Ayana Weekley: “Now That’s a Good Girl: The Politics of
Respectability in African American HIV/AIDS Discourses”
Advisers: Jigna Desai and Gwen Pough http://www.gwss.umn.edu

2009 Dissertation Titles
Rachel Raimist: “Grinding the Walls to Dust” Adviser:
Edén Torres http://www.gwss.umn.edu

http://www.gwss.umn.edu

2008 Dissertation Titles
Margalit Chu: “Resistance, Dependency, and Resilience: The
Everyday Politics and Geographies of NGO Development in
Marginalized Gitano Communities” Adviser: Richa Nagar http://www.gwss.umn.edu

2006 Dissertation Titles
Danielle Bouchard: “The Feminist Order of Things:
Interdisciplinarity, Globalization, and Postcoloniality in
Contemporary Feminist Theory” Adviser: Jigna Desai
Amy Brandzel: “Queering the Subject(s) of U.S. Citizenship:
Beyond the Normative Citizen in Law and Culture. Advisers: Jigna
Desai, Richa Nagar, and Barbara Welke
Dawn Rae Davis: “De-colonizing Love: Feminist Subjects and the
Ability of Not Knowing”. Adviser: Naomi Scheman http://www.gwss.umn.edu

http://www.gwss.umn.edu

2005 Dissertation Titles
Sam Bullington: “From the ‘Rainbow Nation’ to the ‘New
Apartheid’: Sexual Orientation and HIV/AIDS in Contemporary
South African Nation Building. Adviser: Susan Craddock
Sara Hottinger: “Making Mathematical Knowledge: A Cultural
Study of Late-Eighteenth Century British Mathematics”. Advisers:
Jacquelyn Zita and Helen Longino
Linda Wayne: “Sexes, Genders, and Sexualities: From Second to
Third Wave Feminism”. Adviser: Ellen-Messer Davidow http://www.gwss.umn.edu

2003 Dissertation Titles
Amanda Swarr: “Exploring the Boundaries of Gender and Sex:
Transgendered Expressions in Contemporary South Africa”
Advisers: Amy Kaminsky and Richa Nagar http://www.gwss.umn.edu

2002 Dissertation Titles
Sidney Matrix: “Inventing Cyberculture and Cybersubjectivity: A
Critical Study of Cyberfictional Media” Advisers: John Mowitt and
Naomi Scheman http://www.gwss.umn.edu

Brittany Lewis, PhD candidate (black feminist politics and activism) http://www.gwss.umn.edu

Tia Gardener, PhD candidate
(Black feminist arts and literature)
Carolyn Erler, PhD candidate
(Feminist epistemology and biopoliitcs)
http://www.gwss.umn.edu

http://www.gwss.umn.edu

Jigna Desai
Research Interests: Asian American literature and media, feminist theory, postcolonial studies, queer/sexuality studies, South Asian diasporas, critical disability studies, autism, neuronormativity
Richa Nagar
Research Interests: transnational feminism, politics of development, feminism and praxis, people’s movements http://www.gwss.umn.edu

Naomi Scheman
Research Interests: politics of epistemology, feminist theory, trustworthiness and community engagement, responsibility in research, queer/sexuality studies, transgender studies
Edén Torres
Research Interests: race, class & gender,
Chicana/o cultural studies, Chicana/Chicano history and politics, Chicana feminist theory,
Feminist & Critical Pedagogies, Gender, Labor &
Politics http://www.gwss.umn.edu

Amy Kaminsky
Research Interests: Spanish and Latin
American literature, feminist literary theory and criticism, Latin American film,
Exile and national identity in Latin
America, Jewish writing and film in
Argentina, race, gender, and sexuality
Zenzele Isoke
Research Interests: U.S. Black Women’s
Politics and Activism, black feminist thought, urban studies, urban ethnography, feminist geography, feminist theory and methods http://www.gwss.umn.edu

Susan Craddock
Research Interests: AIDS, disease, health,
Tuberculosis, public-private networks for neglected disease vaccine and drug production
Jacquelyn Zita
Research Interests: Women’s biology, environmental justice, feminist environmental studies, sexuality, corporeal philosophy, lgbt studies, feminist theory and philosophy http://www.gwss.umn.edu

Annie Hill (Visiting Faculty Member)
Research Interests: Rhetorical theory and criticism; cultural studies/public policy and crime,; gender and sexuality studies; feminist theory; race theory and western science
Research Interests: Media, race and politics; gender and media studies; public sphere studies
Catherine Squires (Director of Graduate Studies) http://www.gwss.umn.edu

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Rachel Raimist Feminist Media Center
The Rachel Raimist Feminist Media Center (RRFMC) is a a teaching classroom and open lab for Gender, Women, and
Sexuality Studies and GLBT Studies students, faculty and staff, and a multimedia training and production facility.
Powerful multimedia tools exist, such as Dreamweaver,
Photoshop, and Final Cut Pro on all of the computers.
This lab provides the physical space and infrastructure to support a variety of instructor and faculty training, curriculum development, and research efforts for the department and the broader community
As a whole, our department continues to seek out collaboration opportunities with other interdisciplinary units to expand the use of digital technology and media through the humanities. http://www.gwss.umn.edu

http://www.gwss.umn.edu

http://www.gwss.umn.edu