In August of 1997, the Ph.D. Program in Women's Studies at The University of Iowa was approved by the Iowa Board of Regents. Although there are several other universities and colleges offering certificate programs associated with degree-granting departments, The University of Iowa is one of only a few institutions granting a "free-standing" Ph.D. in Women's Studies.

The Women's Studies Program is committed to feminist research, teaching, and scholarship. It emphasizes the application of theoretical and methodological models developed in the pursuit of the broad range of cultural issues affecting both women and men anticipates the future of gender studies. Although we continue to press for the inclusion of feminist critiques and theories in the curriculum of specific disciplines, we are convinced that the future leaders of our field will come from those trained in interdisciplinary, international feminist approaches.

We expect those who complete their Ph.D. at Iowa to have a firm grounding in the history of feminist inquiry, in the histories of feminisms, and in feminist pedagogy and practice. We also want our students to be able to move easily among the disciplines in their research and teaching. We believe that a strong commitment to interdisciplinary work brings a broad understanding that needs to be balanced with the depth that concentration in a single discipline can bring. To prepare our students to seriously contest traditional practices in a discipline, we insist that our Ph.D. students concentrate a minimum of 18 semester hours in one discipline and work closely with a faculty member from that discipline on relevant research projects.

Monica Brasile

Current CV

Natalia Chernyayeva

Current CV

Kats Mendoza

Current CV

Lisa Mott

Current CV

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