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Postgraduate Study

The Centre for Women's Studies and Gender Research offers the degrees of PhD ,MA by research, MA by coursework and research plus a Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (Research). The aim of the graduate program is to provide interdisciplinary research training in Women's Studies by providing a range of links between staff and students not only in a variety of disciplines within the Faculty of Arts, but also with several vocationally oriented and professional courses offered by other faculties. The Centre has a very active research culture and we organise regular staff and graduate seminars on topics of general concern to those engaged in feminist and Women's Studies. Research students are normally expected to attend these seminars. The Centre also organises frequent symposia and conferences in which graduate students can be involved.

Why choose Women's Studies at Monash?

What makes our program special? Postgraduate students in Women's Studies benefit from being part of a Centre that is committed to interdisciplinary research and thinking. New research students are provided with a special introductory seminar program to assist them in adjusting to postgraduate study and getting underway with their research. And then throughout their degree they participate in the research students cohort group that meets regularly to offer practical support and guidance on general research and writing issues. It also forms the basis of a peer social network.

What else do we offer? Centre staff also take the issue of students' all-round professional development and mentoring seriously. We have led the Faculty in providing a wide range of professional seminars for postgraduates, addressing topics such as writing for publication, presenting at conferences, entering the employment market etc. Students have access to a high level of individual mentoring. Advanced level postgraduates are encouraged to present their work at national and international conferences and are assisted in developing their research for publication. Where appropriate, doctoral students may also be offered part-time teaching opportunities in the Centre's undergraduate program.

Does all this stop when I finish my thesis? Centre staff have a commitment to professional mentoring and this continues on after the thesis work is done. We provide on-going advice on career development issues - well after graduation.

What have the Centre's students achieved?

Lots! Here are some of the achievements of our recent and current students:

Millsom Henry-Waring (Phd graduate, Women's Studies) was awarded the 2003 Jean Martin Award for the best Australian PhD in a social science discipline from the Australian Sociological Association (TASA). Millsom now holds a continuing lectureship in Sociology at the University of Melbourne.

Kyllie Cripps commenced her PhD in 1999. In 2000 she was awarded a grant under the ARC Indigenous Researchers Development (IRD) Scheme (with E. Burke, C. Goddard, E. Reed). The same year Kyllie was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study in the USA for one year.

Patricia MacCormack was awarded her PhD in 2000. She subsequently received the Mollie Holman Medal for the most outstanding PhD thesis in the Faculty of Arts for that year. Patricia has been an invited keynote speaker at the 4th European Feminist Research Conference in Bologna in September 2000 and at the Australian Women's Studies Association Conference in 2001. As part of her doctoral research, she spent a semester working with Rosi Braidotti at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. She now lectures at Anglia Polytechnic University in Cambridge, UK.

Sally Newman commenced her PhD in 1999. In 2000 she awarded the Lady Leitch Fellowship from the AFUW (Vic) to support her archival research in the USA . She also gained a Margaret Storrs Grierson Scholar-in-Residence Fellowship at Smith College in the US . In 2001 she shared the Faculty of Arts inaugural Postgraduate Publication Prize for her article in the journal Hecate. Sally has presented conference papers on her research in the USA, UK and Australia.


Sally Newman prepares to present her paper at the "Women's Private Writing"
Conference at the University of New England, Maine, USA in June 2000.

Anna Szorenyi commenced her PhD in 2000. In 2001 she was selected to attend the Summer School in Critical Theory at Cornell University in the USA.

Ilsa Evans started her PhD in 2002. She was awrded a 2002 Benefactors Bursary from the Australian Federation of University Women (Victoria) to assist her in pursuing he research in the long-term effects of domestic violence on survivors.

PhD candidate Cheryl Earnshaw, who is researching citizen participation in local government, was accepted into the Seventh European Summer School on Local Government Studies in Stuttgart, Germany, in 2002.

Myfanwy McDonald started her PhD studies in 2002. In the same year she attended the European Women's Studies Summer School at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. In 2003 she was awarded a Huygens Scholarship by the Netherlands Government to return to Utrecht in 2004 to work with Prof. Rosi Braidotti for a semester.

Myfanwy with fellow students
Myfanwy McDonald (centre) with fellow students at the Women's Studies Summer School at Utrecht University, 2002.

Note For Overseas Applicants

In addition to the information below, overseas applicants are advised to seek further information regarding International Students paying particular attention to eligibility requirements, scholarship and fee information. Intending overseas applicants for Women's Studies graduate programs who are uncertain which program they can apply for on the basis of their existing qualifications, should seek advice from Elizabeth Nolan in the Faculty of Arts.

Library Support

Women's Studies staff work closely with reader education staff in the Matheson Library and organise for postgraduates a number of hands-on library sessions with the Women's Studies subject librarian, Anna Davis. There is also a special library web-page you can visit to find out what resources the library offers to support Women's Studies students in their course work and research.

Programs We Offer

For more information you can e-mail: postgrad.enquiries.psi@arts.monash.edu.au

By Research

By Coursework

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