AASU to Offer Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies

Savannah, GA—Armstrong Atlantic State University has received approval to begin offering an interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies. The discipline of Women's Studies offers essential perspectives on human experience in areas as diverse as literature, history, art, health, and psychology.

The certificate program "will provide a coherent, graduate-level grounding in the scholarship of women's and gender studies and feminist theory," said Teresa Winterhalter, associate professor of English at AASU. "It will prepare students interested in gaining leadership credentials in many fields to certify their expertise in women's issues."

Additionally, the certificate will have a global emphasis, with selected courses focusing on intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, and culture. This focus on global feminism, post-colonial, third world, and post-modern theory is expected to be especially attractive to students already employed in numerous professions in the community.

"To occupy a leadership position, in our local community and in our increasingly diverse world, students will require an understanding of the interdisciplinary and critical frameworks that construct our knowledge of cultural operations apparent in contemporary societies," said Winterhalter.

Last spring AASU created an undergraduate certificate and minor in Women's Studies with all of the courses quickly filling to capacity. At this time, the first Women's Studies conference was held with twenty-nine faculty members and graduate students making presentations and nearly 200 students, faculty, and community members in attendance.

The graduate certificate program will be offered beginning this spring semester and will require the completion of twelve semester hours from a list of approved courses. The curriculum will allow students to focus their graduate work on a specific professional track by registering for the women's studies internship. The internship can be used to integrate professional work experience with scholarly research in the discipline.

"The initial response has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic," said Winterhalter. "During this time of program development, we have had numerous inquiries from graduate students already enrolled at the university and from many professionals in the community."

For more information about the graduate certificate in Women's Studies, call Teresa Winterhalter at 912.921.5632 or visit www.as.armstrong.edu/women_studies.

November 27, 2002