Department of Gender Studies
1st Year Prep Seminar – the Exam Essay
Course Instructor: Assistant Professor Anna Loutfi
Fall 2014 – 2 credits
Meeting day and Time: Thursdays, 1:30-3:10
Course Description/Role of the Course in our Program:
The First-Year PhD Prep Seminar I is a mandatory course designed to help doctoral students in their initial
year of study with the conceptualization and preparation of the Comprehensive Exam Essay (see
description of this assignment below).
The seminar takes the form of workshops. In the Fall/Autumn term, students develop their
Comprehensive Exam Essays through individual writing/planning exercises and group discussion of the
work in progress. The seminar is designed to guide and encourage students in the planning of their PhD
projects overall, as well as sitting down to begin the initial stages of the writing process (and completion
of the two assignments are the central requirement for gaining seminar credits). However, the seminar is
also intended to nurture the exercise of dialogue, debate, and constructive criticism within the student
cohort as a whole; the learning philosophy of the seminars is premised on the single idea of process
through student-centred interaction and learning. By listening to one another, and discussing each other’s
projects (central hypotheses, research questions, broad research fields, relevant scholarly literatures and
debates, as well as methodological and theoretical approaches/problems, etc), students will develop key
analytical and academic skills: critical analysis, self-reflexivity, ‘writing to learn’; scholarly debate
(written/verbal), as well as methods and strategies useful when conducting interdisciplinary research
(interdisciplinary research being a highly complex and challenging area, but one which is central to the
research and mission statement of the department as a whole). Crucially, students will develop their
understanding of intersectional analysis, and how it relates intimately to the interdisciplinary field of
gender studies.
The seminar is also intended to nurture dialogue between students and their research project
mentors/supervisors, as well as build their academic confidence for participation in events such as
conferences (which require clear and confident presentation of data and findings, confidence in public
delivery/speaking, and the ability to field and answer questions related to the research in an open, selfreflexive and informed manner.
The seminar will deploy a number of approaches and activities, designed to get students to be
proactive in the learning process and in the collaborative preparation and structuring of their materials.
These include: contextual thinking (setting research questions in context); identifying key theoretical
concepts for their research projects and clarifying how they are helpful (or unhelpful) for individual
projects; reading and writing to learn (so having clearly set objectives in relation to the preparation,
planning and writing up their assignments); using mind maps/visual plans to focus reading exercises, to
improve close reading skills as well as students’ ability to successfully identify key scholarly literatures and
fields for their future research, as well as underexplored or neglected areas/questions within that research
field.
Description of the Comprehensive Exam Essay Early on in the Autumn term, 1st-Year PhD students will
select two major fields of studies which are of key relevance for their PhD research; within thus defined
wider area of research they are expected to focus on two major themes within each of the selected fields.
Thus contextualizing their research, they are expected to develop a comprehensive bibliography of some
100 titles (books and relevant scientific articles), which will be examined at the Comprehensive Exam.
Learning outcomes/transferable skills:
1. Students will acquire and strengthen skills in designing projects and identifying/developing bespoke
research strategies for individual projects
2. Students will learn to listen to others and reflect on input and in particular constructive criticism
3. Students will develop risk assessment skills in research/project design (identifying potential problems and
risk areas related to their research strategy)
4. Students will develop key presentation skills (clear and accessible presentation of research questions and
findings)
5. Students will develop confidence as interdisciplinary researchers/experts.
6. Students will develop knowledge of the relation between intersectional analysis and gender studies, and
the relevance of this relation to their own research projects.
This course is mandatory for doctoral students in Gender Studies in their first year of the program. It is
designed to help explain, manage and provide a structure for first year students to write their exam
essays. The course will explain the purpose and structure of the GENS doctoral exam essay and its
relationship to the comprehensive exams student stake in order to advance to candidacy. It will provide
an overview of and suggestions for identifying fields and prominent academic literatures with which
each student will engage through the dissertation. The course will also introduce students to some
research and library skills by facilitating a library workshop with library staff.
By the end of the course the student should have identified the key academic areas, literatures and
research themes that will serve as the basis of their dissertation work. They will have used these
elements to create a structure for the exam essay and identified the literatures relevant for explicating
these key elements. The course will provide a structure for writing the essay in parts. By the end of the
course the students will each have produced a first draft of the entire exam essay. This first draft will be
submitted to the course instructor in order to receive credit for the course. They will also each submit
the exam essay draft to their supervisor and the Doctoral Committee for their feedback as well and in
partial fulfillment of the requirements to qualify to take the Comprehensive Exam.
Seminar Meetings:
Because the course is comprised of both instruction and writing throughout the course, the seminar
meetings will not be scheduled for every week. Some weeks may have longer sessions, while others
week the seminar will not meet in order to give the students time to research, read and write. Seminar
meetings will also be a forum for students and the course instructor providing feedback on other
member’s work in progress.
Assessment: Students will receive a pass/fail for the course. If they miss more than one seminar
meeting, they are at risk of failing the course. In such cases, the course would have to be retaken next
year.
Schedule of Meetings:
Wednesdays (11:00-12:40), Room 520
Week 1
September 24
Topic: Overview of the Exam Essay (its purpose) and Course; Discussion of Projects
Week 2
October 1
Topic: Structure of the Exam Essay; identifying which academic conversations you’re engaging with
Week 3
October 8
Topic: Library Session
Afterwards email Instructor the following: revised key words for your search; key journals, 10+ titles of
sources for bibliography
Write 2 page Introduction for Exam Essay
Week 4
October 15
Individual Consultations with Course Instructor + 1 other faculty person
Week 5
October 22
No class meeting - Write Section I
No class session; email Intro and section I by October 29
Week 6
October 29
No class meeting; Write Section II
Email to Instructor by November 5
Week 7
November 5
Topic: 10 minute presentations on projects and unresolved issues/questions about one’s own project
Week 8
Writing period
November 12
Week 9
Writing period
November 19
Submit partial draft to Anna and Your supervisor by 20 November
Email Supervisor to ask for feedback on draft by 1 December
Week 10
November 26
Week 11
December 3
Topic: Discuss supervisor’s responses (generally, how to work with feedback)
Bring revised outline of entire Exam Essay to Seminar Meeting (email it to classmates and instructor 12
hours prior to class)
Week 12
December 10
Consultations and Writing
Entire Exam Essay Due Date: 29 December
Email Entire Exam Essay to Anna, your supervisor and to members of the Doctoral Committee
Supervisors and DC Give Students Feedback by 15 January 2015
Appendix: Section describing the Comprehensive Exam Essay (taken from the PhD
Student Handbook)
The reading and preparation for the Comprehensive Exam is intended to provide a broader
context for the problems and questions to be explored in the dissertation research. The Exam is also
intended as a formal means by which students can build up areas of specialization on the basis of which
they can claim research and teaching expertise in their future careers. The student is examined on two
major fields of scholarship and several themes within these fields, including a comparative element.
Students design their exams in close cooperation with their Supervisors and with the advice of the DC,
which approves the fields and themes chosen for the exam (through the Outline)
The Exam Essay Outline: sometime in the late Winter or Spring term, once it is clear that a student
is progressing with the proposal, the DC will set a deadline for the submission of an Exam Essay Outline
consisting of a) a listing of the fields and themes, b) short explanations for each field and theme indicating
how they fit into the overall project and how they will be delineated (examples of authors or major works
to be discussed can be listed here), and c) a sentence or two indicating where and how the comparative
component will figure in the exam. This Outline will be the start of the full Exam Essay. It is also
recommended that a draft of the Exam Essay Bibliography be compiled at this point. The Bibliography
draft may also be submitted for feedback from the DC.
The Exam Essay itself is a review of the main topics, debates and theoretical issues in two
significant fields of scholarship that inform the PhD project, about which the student will be examined at
the Comprehensive Exam. The length of the Essay will be determined by the Supervisor, keeping in mind
the nature of the project, the preparation of the student, and the abilities of the Exam Committee to read
the materials, but is recommended not to exceed about 10,000 words and can be significantly shorter.
Supervisors can require the student to write a full literature review or to craft the essay more as an outline
of scholarly issues and debates to be elaborated at the Comprehensive Exam. The DC approves the fields
and themes (the Outline, as above) and will give feedback on the full Essay if desired by the student or
her/his Supervisor. The Exam Essay must also be available to the DC upon request, but in most cases the
Supervisor plays the primary role in determining its suitability for submission to the Exam Committee.
The two fields should be broad and recognizable areas of scholarship that inform the PhD project
with the 2-4 themes in each field providing the opportunity for more specific areas within these fields.
Students are instructed not to define these themes too narrowly but to consider issues more broadly and
in theoretical perspective from the particular contexts of their dissertation topics. Guidance will be
provided in the 1st Year Preparation Seminar where diverse examples of past successful Exam Essays will
be made available. Keep in mind, however, that past essays have been of the shorter variety, only
sketching the arch of debates and areas of scholarship, rather than being full literature reviews as is now
an option (see above).
The Comparative Component: Students learn about comparative research in the Fall term
mandatory course Uses of Comparative and Integrative Perspectives for Women’s and Gender Studies. If
the dissertation project itself is NOT comparative, then one field or theme of the Exam Essay must be
comparative. This can be approached in different ways and creativity is encouraged within reason. In
general, comparison should address a specific issue or research question central to the PhD project
through comparison with two or more other contexts aside from that of the PhD dissertation. Different
contexts can be other countries, time periods, social groups, religious contexts, political systems, etc.
(but not whole continents, “civilizations,” or other very large entities). For example, one could compare
some aspect of the women’s and LGBT movements in the same country, similar activist movements in
different but comparable countries within the same time period, different approaches to the same
genre of cultural production, the use of different narrative strategies or stylistic devices by multiple
authors, state policies towards motherhood in the socialist and post-socialist periods in the same
country, or any number of other ways to delve into comparison.
The comparative component should be described in detail whether it appears in the Exam Essay
or in the Dissertation Proposal as part of the PhD project itself. It also must be summarized on the Ph.D.
Comprehensive Exam Preparation Form (see Appendix 1).
The Exam Essay Bibliography: The bibliography accompanying the Exam Essay is to consist of at
least 100 significant references. It should be organized by the fields and themes of the Essay and list the
major works in each field on the basis of which the student is to be examined. Supervisors and, if
appropriate, other Exam Committee and faculty members should help students make these lists as
comprehensive as possible, including the most significant works in each field and theme. While there
will be overlap, this bibliography is different and in most cases bigger than the list of cited references
that accompanies the Dissertation Proposal
Approval of Exam Essay and Dissertation Proposal
The Supervisor and then the Doctoral Committee must review and approve the Dissertation Proposal
and the Outline of the Exam Essay. The Supervisor must also approve the full Exam Essay with
Bibliography before submission to the Exam Committee. Then, no later than one month before the
Comprehensive Exam, the student must submit the Proposal and Essay, along with the Comprehensive
Exam Preparation Form to the Ph.D. Coordinator who will forward all materials to the Exam Committee.
Prior to the exam, the Dissertation Proposal and Exam Essay must be formally approved by all members
of the Comprehensive Exam Committee and each examiner except for the Supervisor must submit a
written evaluation which can also contain suggestions for improvement or further work. It is left to the
discretion of the Supervisor whether these written evaluations are shown to the student and when.
Evaluators may choose to share their critiques and suggestions with the student in a separate
document.