PhD in Women's and Gender Studies: The European Example

Abstract

424 Feminist Studies 44, no. 2. © 2018 by Feminist Studies, Inc. Susan Stanford Friedman PhD in Women’s and Gender Studies: The European Example The growth of PhD programs in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies in the United States since Feminist Studies published its influential forums in 1998 and 2001 has been impressive, especially in the face of budget woes in public higher education, where most of the doctoral programs are located. As we consider the future directions of such programs , I offer here an account of exciting new developments in Europe from which I think we in the United States can learn. A feminist network of faculty in seven universities in six countries across Europe has been working across languages since the beginning of this century to develop cooperative ventures in women’s and gender studies. Funded by the European Union (EU), the network developed a joint Erasmus Mundus Master’s Degree in Women’s and Gender Studies , starting in 2006 and based in Granada, Spain; participants include the University of Bologna (Italy), the Central European University (Hungary ), the University of Granada (Spain), the University of Hull (England), the University of Lodz (Poland), the University of Oviedo (Spain), and the Utrecht University (Netherlands). Also involved is the Associazione Orlando, an independent institute in Bologna, Italy, founded in 1975 to promote feminist research, archives, and activism. This MA program, known by the acronym GEMMA, has graduated hundreds of students from all over the world and is still going strong.1 Their curriculum is a 1. In 2012, GEMMA was renewed and now includes Rutgers University and associations with universities in Central and South America. See http://masteres .ugr.es/gemma. Susan Stanford Friedman 425 two-year program that involves course work, a thesis, and as its major innovation, a “mobility” semester or year. Part of the students’ program involves moving to one of the other universities in the consortium for a semester or a year, thus maximizing exposure to a variety of faculty and curricula; at the same time, this mobility term promotes greater cross-European understanding and appreciation of different cultures and languages. The problems the GEMMA program has faced have been enormous, including the institutional differences in degree requirements and academic cultures, the limited funding available for students , and the sheer challenges of coordination across national and linguistic borders. But in GEMMA, the objectives of academic feminism for advanced degrees in women’s and gender studies and greater integration across national differences have converged successfully. In 2013, the GEMMA initiative entered a new phase with an award from the EU to spend two years planning a joint PhD based in the same seven universities: Bologna, CEU, Granada, Hull, Lodz, Oviedo, and Utrecht (with Associazione Orlando as partner). EDGES is the acronym for this well-funded, major initiative, and Lilla Maria Crisafulli at the University Bologna is the project coordinator overseeing the final report and working groups from each of the seven universities and Associazione Orlando.2 Some of the consortium universities already had some form of separate PhD degree program in women’s and gender studies (Bologna, CEU, Granada, Oviedo, Utrecht). But the ambition was to create a joint PhD among the seven universities based on the vision of GEMMA for feminist cross-European cooperation and enrichment. The goals included enhancing gender equality and diversity, offering an interdisciplinary and intercultural degree program, supporting the future employability of its students, and encouraging a synergy between academic institutions and the wider public and private sectors. For two years, members of the consortium met repeatedly to design a threeyear PhD degree program that featured, like GEMMA, a mobility year, with students spending time at one of the other consortium universities , under the supervision of their main advisor and a secondary advisor 2. GENDERGRADUATES, another feminist consortium of six universities, based in Utrecht between 2005 and 2010 and directed by Rosemarie Buikema, helped lay the groundwork for EDGES. GENDERGRADUATES graduated 39 PhDs in women’s and gender studies. 426 Susan Stanford Friedman at their mobility institution. In the fall of 2014, I was brought into the project as an outside evaluator, charged with speaking at conferences, attending meetings, and submitting a...