MA in Public Policy with concentration in Women's Studies

The Master of Arts in the field of public policy with a concentration in women's studies was established in 1982 as the "first-of its-kind" graduate degree combining women's studies and public policy. Students take required women's studies courses and electives with other women's studies graduate students and required and elective public policy courses with students in other policy graduate programs. This program provides students with a professionally-oriented degree, the MA in Public Policy, including training in the conventional social science components of that degree-economics, quantitative methods, and policy analysis. The program provides students with a gender analysis and the tools to critique conventional ways of thinking about and studying public policy. It offers opportunities to gain expertise in specific policy issues important to women and to participate in Washington women's policy networks and organizations, including the Institute for Women's Policy Research which is affiliated with The George Washington University.

Core Curriculum

Theory (students choose one):
WSTU 6220: Fundamentals of Feminist Theory (3 credits) or
WSTU 6225: Contemporary Feminist Theory (3 credits)

Methods:
WSTU 6221: Research Issues in Women's Studies (3 credits)

Women's Studies and Public Policy:
WSTU 6240: Women and Public Policy (3 credits)
ECON 6217: Survey of Economics (3 credits)
PPPA 6002: Research Methods and Applied Statistics (3 credits)
PPPA 6006: Policy Analysis (3 credits)
PPPA 6010: Politics and the Policy Process (3 credits)

Six credit hours from among the following three options:
A. WSTU 6283: Practicum in Women's Studies (6 credits)
B. WSTU 6283: Practicum in Women's Studies (3 credits) and WSTU 6295: Independent
Research in Women's Studies (3 credits)
C. WSTU 6998 and 6999: Thesis Research (6 credits)

Electives
Students take three elective courses related to their program of study (9 credit hours) to complete the total of 36 credit hours.

Comprehensive Exam
Each candidate must pass a Master's Comprehensive Examination.

How does this program differ from the MPP?
The core curriculum for this Master of Arts program draws heavily on women's studies courses, with an interdisciplinary approach to the public policy core coursework. It provides students with a feminist analysis and the tools to criticize conventional ways of thinking about and studying public policy that have traditionally excluded women.

Students take core Women's Studies courses and electives with other Women's Studies graduate students and core public policy courses with students in other public policy graduate programs. This program provides students with a professionally-oriented degree, the M.A. in Public Policy, including training in the conventional social science components of that degree -- economics, quantitative methods, policy analysis -- training that helps make our graduates marketable and competitive in the mainstream world of public policy. Most important, it also provides students with a feminist analysis and the tools to criticize conventional ways of thinking about and studying public policy that have traditionally excluded women.  It offers opportunities to gain expertise in specific policy issues important to women, and to participate in Washington women's policy networks and organizations.

The Master of Public Policy core curriculum consists of courses in the interdisciplinary field of public policy; students can pursue a field of study in gender and social policy. The MPP does not require a comprehensive exam, or a thesis; instead, it requires completion of the Capstone Seminar (PPPA 6019).

For More Information

Women's Studies Program
Prof. Cindy Deitch and Prof. Cynthia Harrison
Department of Women's Studies
The George Washington University
202-994-6942
wstu@gwu.edu