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FASS530 Undertaking and completing doctoral research in Gender and Women's Studies - 2010-11

Module description

Outline syllabus

The workshop meets twice in Michaelmas and Lent Terms and once in Summer Term. Being student-led, the workshop is structured through consultation with students, including submissions of sets of questions, issues to be discussed, or a sample piece of writing (where appropriate) which we work through and discuss in each session. The workshop covers a range of topics related to doing, completing, surviving and making the most of the PhD experience, with a particular focus on researching in GWS. Each year's activities are planned and developed to meet the cohort's needs and to facilitate their progress in their PhD research and studies, thus some topics might be prioritised over others in any given year. Overall, workshop topics may include a mix of GWS specific questions and broader questions related to completing a doctorate:

• Situating your research within gender and women's studies (GWS) and feminist theory

• Is your research inter-disciplinary?

• Methods and methodology in GWS (this could include: doing empirical research, working with data, writing with data, reflexivity)

• 'Doing' theory and dealing with theory in GWS

• Structuring your thesis

• Writing your thesis: who and where is the GWS audience?

• Panels for GWS students

• Completing the PhD

• Vivas

• GWS conferences (including writing an abstract)

• Writing for publications in GWS related journals

• Doing summaries

• Writing conclusions

• 'Authoring' your PhD

Aims and objectives

• To discuss the main issues and problems that face researchers in GWS, and feminist researchers more specifically.

• To critically review and evaluate both 'traditional' and feminist research.

• To discuss research which takes account of inequalities, diversity, and complex social identities in research.

• To facilitate students' development of skills in research practices and in understanding the possibilities and limits of various modes of collecting, coding and analysing data in the field of Gender and Women's Studies.

• To discuss what, who and where the GWS research community is.

• To provide students with a forum to meet and engage with peer researchers in Gender and Women's Studies.

• To provide students with a forum where they are introduced to a range of different research areas and theoretical frameworks that exist in the field of Gender and Women's Studies

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students will be able to:

• select and apply particular research skills necessary to researching gender and/or researching sensitive topics.

• demonstrate knowledge of some of the ethical questions particularly relevant to feminist research such as attention to inequalities, hierarchies, and the subject/object distinction in the research process

• situate their doctoral research in relation to GWS, feminist research, and interdisciplinarity

• communicate information, ideas, interpretations, arguments, principles or theories relevant to research in Gender and Women's Studies with confidence and clarity

Reading list

As this is not a standard course there are no set readings. However, some of the reading materials which are suggested include:

Maynard, M. and Purvis, J. (Eds.) (1994) Researching the Lives of Women from a Feminist Perspective. Basingstoke: Taylor and Francis.

Reinharz, S. (1992) Feminist methods in Social Research Oxford: Oxford University Press. Warren, C.A.B (1988) Gender Issues in Field Research London: Sage.

Harding, S. (Ed) (1987) Feminism and Methodology Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.

Hading, S. (1991) Whose Science? Whose knowledge? Thinking from Women's Lives Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

Ramazanoglu, C. with Holland, J. (2002) Feminist Methodology: Challenges and Choices, London: Sage

Skeggs, B. (Ed.) (1995) Feminist Cultural Theory: Production and Process. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Fonow, M. M. & Cook, J.A. (Eds) (1991) Beyond Methodology: Feminist Scholarship as Lived Research, Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.

H. Roberts (1984) Doing Feminist Research, London: Routledge

M. Eichler (1988) Non-Sexist Research Methods: A Practical Guide, London: Unwin and Hyman

A. Oakley (2000) Experiments in knowing: gender and method in the social sciences Cambridge, UK: Polity

Timing and Location

Term:	Michaelmas
Date(s):	29/10/10 - 06/05/11
Number of sessions:	5 x 3 hour sessions (2 in Michaelmas/Lent; 1 in Summer)
Timing and Location:	Fridays, 1.00-4.00, Engineering Lecture Theatre 2 Michaelmas Term weeks 3, 9 Lent Term weeks 3, 9 Summer Term week 2

Additional information

Minimum quota: 6 Maximum quota: 30

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