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Gender Studies Honours

Honours year co-ordinator:

Dr Ann Vickery (Dr JaneMaree Maher for 2008)

Aim of the Honours year in Women's Studies

The Honours year in Gender Studies is designed to provide students with an opportunity to consolidate and extend knowledge and skills acquired in their degrees, with a particular emphasis on developing the capacity for independent research in gender issues. The experience gained will provide a sound basis for postgraduate study and research; and will also help to develop the capacity for autonomous thought and action and successful project management with applications in a wide range of professional and vocational settings beyond the university.

Eligibility

To be eligible for Honours in Women's Studies students must have

Combined Honours

The Centre also welcomes applications from students wishing to pursue Honours in Gender Studies in combination with other disciplines. Students planning a combined Honours year in Gender Studies and another discipline will need to ensure that compulsory requirements in both areas are met. Other arrangements, such as the length and weighting of the dissertation component of the year, may need to be negotiated between the Director of the Centre and the Head of the relevant program.

Application Process

In order to apply for entry to fourth-year Honours, prospective students must fill out an application form available from the Faculty of Arts. The completed forms must be returned to the Faculty office. Students from other Monash faculties and other universities must apply as 'external' enrolments using a separate form. This also applies to Monash students who finished their pass degree more than five years ago.

Forms should be received by the Faculty by the end of October. Late application is possible, although these enrolments will not be processed until February and no Honours privileges --such as increased library privileges -- can be extended until the enrolment is processed.

All enrolments are provisional on the successful completion of Semester II units.

Structure of the Honours year in Gender Studies

The Gender Studies Honours programme takes one year full-time or two years part-time study.
The Honours programme has three components:

  1. Semesters I & II GND4005: Dissertation in Gender Studies , worth 24 points; as part of the requirements for the dissertation, students are offered seminars on research methodology (Semester I) and the opportunity to present their thesis proposal at a Dissertation Seminar (Semester I);
  2. Semester I GND4010 Gender, Sexuality, Power , a compulsory unit worth 12 points;
  3. Semester I or II an elective unit, worth 12 points, selected from units offered by the Centre or cross-listed programme, with GND4020 Feminist Research highly recommended if GND3020 Feminist Research has not been completed.

Part-time students are required to undertake coursework in their first year of study and prepare the dissertation in the second year.

Dissertation

The dissertation is to be approximately 15,000 - 18,000 words in length.

The dissertation provides an opportunity to investigate in depth a topic of interest to the student and to present the results of this research in such a way as to show that the writer has the ability to substantiate an argument by marshalling relevant evidence.

In selecting a topic for the dissertation students need to consider their own backgrounds and interests, available resources (including the availability of appropriate supervision). Students need also to tailor the scope of the topic to the time available for its completion. Students are strongly advised to start thinking about their dissertation in advance of commencing the fourth year. Students should seek the advice of the Director in the first instance and talk to Centre  staff and associate staff who may also be able to assist in the selection and development of a research topic.

The Honours co-ordinator will assign each student a dissertation supervisor, taking into account the wishes of students and staff members; students should be aware that staff are unavailable from time to time due to their own research and other leave entitlements. At an early date, the student and the supervisor should agree on a schedule of meetings and a timetable for completing the various stages of the research and writing-up of the dissertation. (Information on Thesis Presentation)

Assessment

All written work in Honours is double marked. The Honours year final grade is obtained by adding the coursework and dissertation results. Coursework is worth 50% of the year's assessable work; the dissertation accounts for the other 50%. Some work will be required which is not assessable, such as exercises in the Methodology seminars.

The coursework seminars are assessed by staff conducting the classes. The dissertation is assessed separately by two examiners from within the Centre and its network of associate staff. All results are reviewed by an Honours examination committee at the end of the year.

Submission of work and extensions

The date for the submission of Honours dissertations is set by the Faculty to conform with the schedule necessary to rank results for the end-of-year scholarship round; the date is conventionally 31 October.

The Centre may grant an extension of time for submission of the dissertation and final coursework up to the last day of the examination period of the semester in which the work is due; the granting of extensions is only done in severe cases of illness or hardship and where supporting documentation has been provided by the student. Application should be made to the Honours co-ordinator. Applications for an extension of time beyond this date must be made to the Faculty of Arts.

Scholarships

For fourth-year students: A limited number of scholarships are available to students pursuing Honours. These scholarships provide financial support up to a maximum of $3000 and are assessed during your application process.

At the completion of the Honours year: Applications for scholarships for postgraduate research and study within Australia, Australian Postgraduate Research Awards (APRA) and Monash Graduate Scholarships (MGS) are generally due in late October each year. Information about other scholarships, bursaries and awards is available form Research Branch and bulletins are posted regularly in the Centre.

Students with results in the HI range will be encouraged to apply for scholarships to pursue further study. As competition for scholarships is extremely fierce, Honours results lower than HI cannot be considered.

Further Information

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