Gender Studies Ph.D. Program Qualifying Exam
The students who are accepted to the Gender Studies Ph.D. Program with an MA degree must complete all of their course work, including the GR classes, by the end of their 4th term. The students who have completed their course work gain the right to take the Ph.D. qualifying exam and they must take it by the end of their 5th term.
The Qualifying Exam reading list consist of 3 sections:
- The first section, “General,” consists of works on gender theory organized under several subheadings. All the students taking the exam are responsible for these readings.
- The second section, “Field,” consists of fundamental readings on gender within disciplinary fields such as sociology, anthropology, political science, literature, and psychology. The students select a particular field, in accordance with their dissertation topic and with their advisor’s consent, and they are responsible for the readings listed in that field. More disciplinary fields may be added to the list in line with the needs of the students in the program.
- The third section, “Thesis Topic,” consists of a list of readings prepared by the student and approved by the student’s advisor.
- The qualifying exam reading list will be updated as needed.
The qualifying exam consists of a written and an oral part. Each part is evaluated by the qualifying exam jury, consisting of 3 faculty members from Sabancı University and 2 faculty members from other universities.
The students who pass the written exam gain the right to take the oral exam. The students who are unsuccessful on the written exam must take it again within 6 months. Those who fail the written exam twice are dismissed from the program.
On the oral exam, the students are expected to answer questions based on the reading list and on their answers to the written exam questions. The students who pass the oral exam are ready to proceed to the dissertation stage. The students who are unsuccessful on the oral exam must take it again within 6 months. Those who fail the oral exam twice are dismissed from the program.