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Gender Studies Honours

Gender Studies Honours coordinator

Dr Kirsten McLean

Aim of the Honours year in Gender Studies

The Honours year in Gender Studies is designed to provide students with an opportunity to consolidate and extend knowledge and skills acquired in their degrees, with a particular emphasis on developing the capacity for independent research in gender issues. The experience gained will provide a sound basis for postgraduate study and research; and will also help to develop the capacity for autonomous thought and action and successful project management with applications in a wide range of professional and vocational settings beyond the university.

Eligibility

To be eligible for Honours in Gender Studies students must have

Combined Honours

The Centre also welcomes applications from students wishing to pursue Honours in Gender Studies in combination with other disciplines. Students planning a combined Honours year in Gender Studies and another discipline will need to ensure that compulsory requirements in both areas are met. Other arrangements, such as the length and weighting of the dissertation component of the year, may need to be negotiated with the School Honours coordinator.

Application Process

Details about applying for Honours can be found here.
http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/future/honours/

Structure of the Honours year in Gender Studies

The structure of the Honours year can be found here: http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2011handbooks/aos/hons-gender-studies---honours.html

Both coursework units are completed in Semester 1, with the thesis component completed in Semester 2. Part time students will develop their program with the Honours coordinator.

Dissertation

The dissertation is to be approximately 15,000 - 18,000 words in length.

The dissertation provides an opportunity to investigate in depth a topic of interest to the student and to present the results of this research in such a way as to show that the writer has the ability to substantiate an argument by marshalling relevant evidence.

In selecting a topic for the dissertation students need to consider their own backgrounds and interests, available resources (including the availability of appropriate supervision). Students need also to tailor the scope of the topic to the time available for its completion. Students are strongly advised to start thinking about their dissertation in advance of commencing the fourth year. Students should seek the advice of the Honours coordinator in the first instance and talk to Centre staff and associate staff who may also be able to assist in the selection and development of a research topic.

The Honours coordinator will assign each student a dissertation supervisor, taking into account the wishes of students and staff members; students should be aware that staff are unavailable from time to time due to their own research and other leave entitlements. At an early date, the student and the supervisor should agree on a schedule of meetings and a timetable for completing the various stages of the research and writing-up of the dissertation. (Information on Thesis Presentation)

What next after Honours?

At the completion of the Honours year: Applications for scholarships for postgraduate research and study within Australia, Australian Postgraduate Research Awards (APRA) and Monash Graduate Scholarships (MGS) are generally due in late October each year. Information about other scholarships, bursaries and awards can be found. http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/hdr/

Students with results in the HI range will be encouraged to apply for scholarships to pursue further study. As scholarships are extremely competitive, Honours results lower than HI cannot be considered.

Further Information