Women’s Studies and Psychology Joint PhD Program
Specific Requirements and Policies
Transferring Credits
Language Requirement
Recommended Progress
Fourth Term Reviews
Prelims
WS 891
Dissertation Prospectus/Proposal
Faculty of the Women’s Studies and Psychology Doctoral
Program
Transferring Credit
To use an MA thesis to fulfill a research seminar requirement or count a
cognate or statistics requirement taken elsewhere towards your Psychology requirements
at Michigan, you must discuss the matter with your area chair.
back to top
Language Requirement
There is no foreign language requirement in Psychology.
back to top
Women’s Studies and Psychology Recommended Progress
Personality and Social Context (P&SC) Area Progress
Please Note: This timeline notes typical progress through the program. Your schedule may be slightly different depending on when certain courses are offered.
First Year
Fall
- WS 501—Proseminar in Women’s Studies
- WS 530—Feminist Theory
- PSYCH 613—Statistics I
- PSYCH 653—P&SC Orientation
- PSYCH 619—Individual Research
Winter
- WS 602 or WS 603—Approaches to Feminist Scholarship
- PSYCH 614—Statistics II
- PSYCH 854—Advanced P&SC Methods I
- PSYCH 619—Individual Research
Second Year
Fall
- PSYCH 654—Classical and Modern P&SC Theories
- PSYCH 619—Individual Research
- 2 Electives in WS or Psych breadth course
Winter
- PSYCH 619—Individual Research
- 1 Elective in WS or Psych breadth course
- 1 area seminar (by end of second year)
- Candidacy achieved
Other requirements
- Prelim portfolio in Psych due in May
- Fourth-term Review in WS
- Begin working on WS 891 after finishing Psych 619 (summer)
- Teach one term (typically in Psych)
Third Year
- Finish coursework if necessary
- Begin working on dissertation prospectus
- Teach two terms (at least one must be in WS)
Fourth Year
- Dissertation Research
- Teach one term (either Psych or WS; students should have taught for Psych two terms and WS two terms)
Fifth Year
Possible Changes
- P&SC Methods II may be substituted for Methods I in 1st year Winter
- May take Psych breadth course or WS elective in 1st year Winter
Clinical Area Progress
Please Note: This timeline notes typical progress through the program. Your schedule may be slightly different depending on when certain courses are offered.
First Year
Fall
- WS 501—Proseminar in Women’s Studies
- WS 530—Feminist Theory
- PSYCH 613—Advanced Statistical Methods [Clinical students register for this course as PSYCH 988 (002) or Soc 988 for 5 credits. This is a cross-listed course and will count as both stats and cognate requirement.]
- PSYCH 678—Topics in Clinical Psychology: Ethics and Professional Issues
- PSYCH 675—Multicultural Issues in Clinical Practice
- *WS 603 may substitute for PSYCH 675, but Psych 675 cannot take the place of WS 603 as a methods course
- PSYCH 877—Lifespan Psychopathology Part One
- PSYCH 619—Individual Research
Winter
- WS 602 or WS 603—Approaches to Feminist Scholarship
- PSYCH 614—Statistics II or Soc 988
- PSYCH 670—Research Design and Evaluation
- **WS 602 or WS/PSYCH 655 (Psychology of Women) may substitute for
PSYCH 670 (Research Design and Evaluation)
- PSYCH 678—Topics in Clinical Psychology: Ethics and Professional Issues (Cont.)
- PSYCH 878—Lifespan Psychopathology Part Two
- PSYCH 673—Clinical Assessment of the Child (see note below)
- PSYCH 676—Clinical Assessment: Lab
- PSYCH 619—Individual Research
Second Year
Fall
- PSYCH 600—Proseminar [Overview of Psychology]
- PSYCH 779—Practicum Seminar on Ethics and Professional Issues
PSYCH 619—Individual Research
- Elect one of the following therapy courses (two required):
PSYCH 875—Introduction to Child Therapy
PSYCH 770—Family Therapy
PSYCH 874—Introduction to Adult Therapy
- 2 Electives in WS
Winter
- PSYCH 619—Individual Research
- PSYCH 674—Clinical Assessment of the Adult (see note below)
- PSYCH 677—Clinical Assessment: Lab
- PSYCH 779—Practicum Seminar on Ethics and Professional Issues
- Elect one of the following therapy courses (two required):
PSYCH 770—Family Therapy
PSYCH 874—Introduction to Adult Therapy
PSYCH 875—Introduction to Child Therapy
- 1 Elective in WS
- Fourth-term Review in WS
Spring
- PSYCH 978—Psychopharmacology
- Prelim exam in Clinical
Third Year
- Complete course work
- WS 891
Fourth Year
- Candidacy achieved
- Dissertation Research
Fifth Year
Possible changes in sequence:
- Assessment sequence in 3rd rather than 2nd year
- Lifespan Psychopathology sequence in 3rd rather than 1st year
- WS 603/PSYCH 675 in 3rd rather than 1st year
Note: Students may choose to take either Psych 673 (Clinical
Assessment of the Child) or Psych 647 (Clinical Assessment of the Adult).
Only one is required.
Fourth Term Reviews
The Women’s Studies Department reviews all joint Women’s Studies and Psychology students in the winter term of their second year. This meeting is intended to offer the student and faculty members an opportunity to discuss the student’s progress in the program and plans for future research. In other words, it is not a screening, but part of the mentoring process. At the time of the fourth term review, it is helpful to have completed your PSYCH 619 project, but not necessary.
The student:
1. Begins by selecting a committee. The review committee will consist of:
- a faculty member in Women’s Studies and Psychology
- a faculty member in Psychology who is not also in Women’s Studies
- a faculty member in Women’s Studies who is not also in Psychology
If faculty members are unfamiliar with the process, the Women’s Studies Director of Graduate Studies will designate a committee chair, generally the joint faculty member, and meet with them to discuss procedures.
2. Arranges an agreeable meeting time with their committee (before May 1).
The meeting should be 1 1/2 hours in duration. The student also coordinates
a meeting space (in Psychology or Women’s Studies). The Women’s
Studies Graduate Student Services Coordinator can assist if necessary; the
student must inform the Coordinator of the confirmed meeting time/place and
committee members.
3. Submits the following materials to the Women’s Studies Graduate Student Services Coordinator at least one week before the proposed meeting:
- unrevised writing sample of any length from any course or from PSYCH 619 (with or without instructor comments)
- a short self-appraisal (2–3 pp) about progress and future interests
The Women's Studies Graduate Student Services Coordinator will collect comments from all faculty who have taught the student in a course, print out an updated transcript, and create a 4th term review packet with all relevant information. The Women’s Studies Graduate Coordinator will distribute the packet to members of the student’s committee in advance of the meeting.
The meeting will be an opportunity to:
- review and discuss the student’s academic record
- discuss student progress in the joint program and future research plans
The major topic of discussion will be the PSYCH 619 project. (It is helpful
but not necessary to have completed it). The committee will assess progress
within the context of the joint PhD program and will assist the student in
setting up the next steps.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the Psychology Fourth Term Review Form should be completed and filed with the Women’s Studies Graduate Student Services Coordinator.
Note: The WS 891 one hour meeting can be combined with the fourth term review.
back to top
Prelims
Personality & Social Context
Students are required to submit a complete portfolio by May 15 of their second year. The prelim portfolio consists of two major components: Conceptual Essays and Course Portfolio.
The prelim exams are amended for joint students as follows:
- two conceptual essays (instead of three)
- course portfolio should be relevant to both programs
Clinical
The candidacy exam is amended for joint students as follows:
- it will include a section on feminist perspectives and methodologies
back to top
WS 891
All students in Psychology complete a research project in PSYCH 619. The
619 paper forms the basis for the 891 project. The fourth term review and 891
meetings may be combined at the end of the second year, but the 891 must be
completed by the end of the fall term of the third year.
The student forms a committee, which may be the same committee as the fourth term review.
The committee must consist of:
- at least one faculty member jointly appointed in Women’s Studies and Psychology, who serves as chair or co-chair
- at least one faculty member in Women’s Studies who is not in Psychology
- at least one faculty member in Psychology who is not in Women’s Studies
Each committee member makes written comments on the 619 and recommends additional readings.
At the outset of the 891, the student distributes a document to the committee outlining what the main points of the 891 will be.
The committee meets with the student for one hour to explore possible strategies for contextualizing the 619 project within interdisciplinary and feminist approaches to the subject.
If 619 is a mainstream project:
- how does the literature need to be expanded in terms of theory and empirical literature in other disciplines?
- how can the method be critiqued from a feminist and/or interdisciplinary perspective?
- how could the results be interpreted differently?
If 619 is an interdisciplinary project:
- how is it already informed by Women’s Studies?
- how can what makes it feminist be made more explicit?
- how could it be made more interdisciplinary or incorporate a more feminist perspective?
After the meeting, the student writes a framing document (8–10 pages) addressing the issues raised in the meeting. This document is circulated to the committee within 6 weeks of the 891 planning committee meeting. The chair asks members for their approval, determines if the project is acceptable, assigns the student a grade, and completes the requisite form (Psych 891 Form available from the Women’s Studies Graduate Student Services Coordinator). The form should be returned to the Women's Studies Graduate Student Services Coordinator. The form is included in the student’s file and shared with the Psychology Graduate Office.
back to top
Dissertation Prospectus/Proposal
The prospectus is a student’s proposal or plan for dissertation research and writing.
In Psychology, students need to write a dissertation prospectus that is approved by their dissertation committee. A dissertation prospectus should contain (1) an abstract of the specific aims of the investigation; (2) the background and significance of the proposed research, including the conceptual framework; (3) the research design and methods of procedure, including measurement techniques to be used, if applicable; (4) analysis strategies to be followed; (5) a tentative timetable. (Faculty in each area and joint program will determine the length and detail of these sections.)
In Clinical Psychology, students begin their prospectus after the candidacy exam and during the third year in the program. The area recommends that students will have formed a dissertation committee and that the committee will have approved a dissertation proposal by the end of the third year in the program and certainly no later than the end of the fourth year. The prospectus is a written document approved by the dissertation committee. Clinical students give an oral presentation and an oral defense of the prospectus that is then evaluated and approved by the dissertation committee.
In the Personality and Social Context area of Psychology, there is no set deadline for defense of the prospectus, although students are strongly encouraged to have their prospectus successfully defended by the end of their fourth year in the program.
Please file a copy of your prospectus with the Women’s Studies Graduate Office.
See also: Department of Psychology website
Faculty of the Women’s Studies and Psychology Doctoral Program
Budgeted Faculty:
Abby Stewart
Rosie Ceballo
Lilia Cortina
Liz Cole
Non-Budgeted Faculty:
Jacquelynne Eccles
Sandra Graham-Bermann
Patricia Gurin (Emerita)
Affiliated Faculty:
Toni Antonucci
Jill Becker
Jennifer Crocker
Susan Gelman
Lorraine Gutierrez
Fiona Lee
Ramaswami Mahalingam
Donna Nagata
Sheryl Olson
Colleen Seifert
Denise Sekaquaptewa
Barbara Smuts
Brenda Volling
Monique Ward
back to top
