FAQs FOR MA TRACK IN FEMINIST PRACTICES FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
When is the application deadline? Is there an Early Decision Deadline?
The deadline for applications to the new MA Track is March 1, 2020.
For this track, we do not offer an early decision.
Where may I access the application?
When applying to the MA Track in Feminist Practices for Social Change, students should complete the application for the WGSS Master’s Program. The application can be accessed here.
On the application itself, they should select the option noted as “MA Track in Feminist Practices for Social Change.” Students should be careful not to select the option either for the BA/MA Track with the same name, or for the WGSS Masters with Thesis.
Incomplete applications will not be considered.
What does the application require?
Candidates should carefully review requirements for the application as noted: https://womens-studies.rutgers.edu/academics/graduate-program/prospective-students/ma-students
In addition to these requirements:
- On the Application form, applicants must select the option for “MA Track in Feminist Practices for Social Change.” APPLICANTS SHOULD BE CAREFUL NOT TO SELECT THE OPTION EITHER FOR THE BA/MA TRACK BY THE SAME NAME OR FOR THE WGSS MASTER’S DEGREE WITH THESIS
- Applicants should stress their interest in activist work or interest in social justice/human rights in the Personal Statement
Students who successfully pass the first phase of selection will be interviewed. These interviews may be conducted either in person or via skype.
Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Once I have been accepted into the new Track, can I switch to writing a Thesis?
Students who apply to the MA Track in Feminist Practices for Social Change must complete the requirements of the Track and must complete the Practicum. Students matriculating into this Track can neither complete a thesis nor transfer into the WGSS Master’s Program with Thesis at any point while completing the Track.
Students interested in completing a Master’s Thesis should apply directly and specifically to the traditional Master’s Program in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Students who have already matriculated into the MA Track and who then decide they want to complete a Thesis must withdraw from the Track and apply separately for the Masters in WGSS with Thesis.
May I transfer as a graduate student into the new MA Track?
WGSS does not allow graduate students from another school at which they are already completing WGSS work or completing graduate work in another discipline inside or outside of Rutgers University to transfer into the WGSS MA Track for Feminist Practices in Social Change.
Only students who apply to the new Track through the application process will be considered for acceptance into the Track.
May international students apply to the MA Track?
All students may apply to the MA Track in Feminist Practices for Social Change.
Please review all application requirements: https://womens-studies.rutgers.edu/academics/graduate-program/prospective-students/ma-students
International applicants should be sure to satisfy all requirements per:
- Rutgers Global for visa requirements and other documentation: https://global.rutgers.edu/international-scholars-students
- TOEFFL scores: https://womens-studies.rutgers.edu/academics/graduate-program/prospective-students/ma-students
May I transfer any graduate credits I have earned before matriculating into the new MA track towards completing the MA track?
As a rule, Rutgers University allows students to transfer up to 12 credits (3 classes) toward their WGSS MA degree. WGSS will consider these inquiries on a case-by-case basis. WGSS cannot guarantee that any credits will be transferred and cannot allow transfer credits to count toward any of the three core courses required of the new MA track.
In addition, WGSS will only consider for transfer graduate courses that are officially recorded as WGSS courses and in which students have earned an ‘A’.
What is the graduation time for completing this new MA track?
Students must complete the MA within the three-year deadline imposed by the graduate school. Students who, for whatever reason, cannot complete the degree within this time period must request in writing directly to the graduate school for an extension after receiving approval from the WGSS Masters Director to request such an extension.
May non-matriculating students take courses in this Track?
WGSS does not allow non-matriculating students to take courses in this Track. Only students who have been accepted into the Track or who are enrolled in the WGSS MA Degree with Thesis or the new BA/MA Track may complete courses related to this Track.
What are the degree requirements for the new MA track?
All students enrolled in the MA track must complete 30 credits total, as follows:
- Three Core Courses (12 credits): Feminism Theory and Practices (515), Social Justice Movements (516), and Advocacy Tactics and Techniques (517).
- Five Electives (15 credits) from a range of WGSS graduate courses, including: Gender and Human Rights, Gender and Development, Feminist Knowledge Production, Feminist Genealogies, Feminist Advocacy at the UN
- 6 credits applied toward Practicum Research work (at the time when the student is completing Practicum work)
What is a Practicum and must I complete one to receive the MA degree?
Students must complete a Practicum to graduate.
In keeping with the professional orientation of the MA track, the Practicum constitutes the capstone experience for students as they complete their coursework. A Practicum provides students with the opportunity to experience the phenomenon of praxis: to apply what they have learned in the classroom to actual experience in activist work. Students will complete Practicum work in an organization of their choice focused on work related to women’s, gender, and sexuality studies.
Over the past 25 years, WGSS has developed strong working relations with a host of feminist NGOs, INGOs, and research centers and institutes on the east coast from New York City to Washington D.C. where we have placed Practicum students in the past. Some students who possess requisite linguistic fluency have completed practicum placements in Ghana, India, Lebanon, Spain, and Vietnam. Others have done important work with the constitutive units of Rutgers Institute for Women’s Leadership, most notably, the Center for American Women and Politics, the Center for Women’s Global Leadership, the IWL, the Center for Women and Work, and the Center on Violence against Women and Children.
During the time period in which students are completing their Practicum Proposal, completing the Practicum work, and writing and defending their Practicum Report, students should register a total of six credits: 988:884 and 988:585. Students cannot graduate without registering for all six of these credits.
In addition to the academic work, what kind of opportunities are available to students completing the MA track in Feminist Practices for Social Change?
Students completing the new MA track have multiple opportunities for advancing themselves through academic and activist work. Some opportunities include:
- Apply to be a teaching assistant for classes related to the WGSS Social Justice Minor for undergraduates
- Participate in the bi-annual WGSS graduate student conference
- Apply for travel funding to present at or attend conferences related to activist work or academic research
- Apply to study abroad in Europe for one semester through the GEMMA Program
- Apply to study abroad for 6 weeks during a summer in Kassel, Germany, through the European Institute
- Complete a variety of certificates in various units and departments through Rutgers, including through The Center for Violence against Women and Children (https://socialwork.rutgers.edu/node/675) or Africana Studies (https://africanastudies.rutgers.edu/academics/graduate-certificate)
- Apply for graduate fellowships, such as to The Eagleton Institute for Politics Graduate Fellowship Program (https://eagleton.rutgers.edu/grad-fellowships/).
Does WGSS provide funding for students completing the MA track?
Currently, WGSS cannot offer funding for any students matriculating into the new MA track. Students, however, may check for job openings throughout Rutgers as well as among units of the IWL Consortium: https://iwl.rutgers.edu/consortium/ (see navigation bar on right-hand side).
