We welcome your interest in our interdisciplinary GWS Graduate Certificate program.

The certificate program in Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Kentucky provides students with foundational knowledge about gender, sexuality and feminist theory and scholarship. The GWS Graduate Certificate is over 20 years old and has been earned by approximately 200 students. Students in the certificate program have a wide range of professional goals and research interests.  

Students may complete the certificate as a complement to a graduate disciplinary degree program or as a stand-alone curriculum. The aim of the graduate certificate curriculum is to provide a coherent, graduate-level interdisciplinary grounding in Gender and Women's Studies scholarship and to create an intellectual community among faculty and graduate students who share a scholarly interest in Gender and Women's Studies.

We are deeply committed to the academic innovations in both women’s studies, in which lived experiences of women worldwide are honored and used to expand traditional disciplinary knowledges, and gender studies, which examines how we ascribe gendered meanings to everyday objects, experiences and relationships across space and time. Our curriculum is shaped by faculty whose diverse areas of expertise complement each other in ways to ensure that students gain a variety of knowledge and skills.

Students in the Certificate program can take required courses in feminist theory and feminist research methodologies, as well as, a broad range of GWS topical seminars and crossed listed courses (see the link to graduate courses on this website for further information about current course offerings). We also offer cross-listed graduate courses offered by GWS faculty affiliates. 

Students who are enrolled as graduate students at the University of Kentucky are encouraged to apply for the Gender and Women's Studies Graduate Certificate program. We encourage you to consult with your advisor and apply as early as possible in your graduate career in order to allow time to complete the required courses.  Courses counting toward fulfillment of the Graduate Certificate curriculum must be taken after admission to the program, although students may petition for prior courses to count toward the certificate.

Information about the graduate certificate, the requirements for application and admission, and the requirements for the certificate are available on this website. If you have questions about the program after reading these materials, please contact us at GWSGradStudies@uky.edu 

We look forward to hearing from you!