Doctoral Degree (PhD) in Gender and Women's Studies

Program Specific Requirements

1. Three letters of recommendation are required. A minimum of two letters (and preferably all three letters) should be from professors who can provide an assessment of academic achievements and scholarly potential.
2. Official transcripts from all universities attended must be submitted to the Graduate School. We require an undergraduate grade point average of at least 3.0 and, if relevant, a graduate grade point average of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale for admission.
3. Instead of writing an overall personal statement, please address each of the following questions separately. Each mini-essay should be 500 words or less.
   1. Why are you interested in pursuing a doctoral program in Gender and Women's Studies, in general and specifically at the University of Kentucky? What are your current career interests, and how will a PhD in GWS facilitate them?
   2. What research interests (e.g., topics, issues, or questions) do you hope to pursue in graduate school? Based on the descriptions of faculty on the department website or any interactions you may have had, which faculty member(s) in the GWS department might be a good match for your interests? See the faculty directory here. gws.as.uky.edu/faculty
   3. Please describe experiences and skills that will help you to succeed in a doctoral program and engage in research/scholarship in Gender and Women's Studies. These can include coursework in GWS and/or other areas, research experience, work/volunteer/life experiences, and/or skills related to academics, research, or teaching.
   4. Please read the mission statement for the GWS department at https://gws.as.uky.edu/community. Discuss how you would be able to contribute to the mission of the department.
   5. Tell us a little bit about yourself as a student and person. What individual and interpersonal strengths would you bring to our community of scholars? What areas do you need or want to develop further?
4. Full resume or curriculum vitae (CV), detailing all academic and relevant work experience.
5. Teaching statement (approximately 500 words). Please discuss your interest in teaching and how you would approach teaching or assisting with GWS courses at UK (e.g., goals as a teacher, style of teaching). If you have teaching or TA experience, please describe those experiences and what you learned from them. If you do not have teaching experience, please describe the kind of teacher you hope to be, based on your experiences as a student.
6. Writing sample of 15 to 40 pages (double spaced). This writing sample should demonstrate content knowledge, analytical skills, and writing ability on a topic related to gender, women’s and/or sexuality studies. Writing samples may be course papers, research papers, critical literature reviews, part of a thesis, or other types of critical writing.