LGBT Studies Certificate Registration Information

Spring 2010

1. COURSE OFFERINGS AND CERTIFICATE REQUIREMENTS:

Courses offered in the Spring 2010 semester that are eligible to count towards the LGBT Studies certificate include:

WS 101: Meanings of Women in Western Culture
WS 102: Women, Social Institutions and Social Change
WS 103: Women and Their Bodies in Health and Disease
WS 310, Lecture 1: Gender, Sexuality and Performance
WS 351: Gender and Sexuality in the Classical World
WS 532: The History of the (American) Body
WS 642: Capstone in LGBT Studies

Both WS 200 and WS 642 are only offered in the spring semester and can be taken simultaneously. Pre-requisites for WS 642 include: being a declared certificate student AND having taken/completed 9 credits previously in LGBT Studies.

2. ADDITIONAL COURSES

If you see a course that you think may be applicable to LGBT Studies, please let me know and I will review the course to determine if can count toward the certificate.

3. COMPLETING YOUR LGBT STUDIES CERTIFICATE:

At the start of the spring semester I will send an email, titled ‘5th and final class,’ to all LGBT Studies certificate students requesting your response if you will be completing your certificate at the end of the fall semester. Please keep in mind that your response to that email is what will begin the certificate posting process. If I do not hear from you in response to that email, it is likely that your certificate completion will not be posted to your transcript.

4. COMMENCEMENT

COMMENCEMENT: Dates and Deadlines

April 6 and 7, 2010 - Countdown to Commencement

April 9, 2010 - deadline for adding your name to the commencement program

April 9, 2010 - deadline for renting your commencement attire

May 14, 15 and 16, 2010 - Spring Commencement
May 16, 2010 – Official graduation date for all spring graduates

If you have not done so, please remember to declare your intent to graduate (using the links on your "My UW" Portal). To have your name included in the commencement program, this must be done by April 9, 2010 for spring commencement and by November 13, 2009 for winter commencement. For additional information on commencement/graduation, please refer to the commencement website at: http://www.secfac.wisc.edu/commence/GeneralInformation.htm

5. ADVISING INFORMATION

As you can imagine, the registration and enrollment period for the spring 2010 semester will be different from semesters past as I will be on maternity leave.

While I am on maternity leave from October through the end of the semester, there will not be regular advising available in Gender and Women’s Studies. Please utilize the tools available to you to assist in your registration process. I really encourage you all to be proactive as you approach the spring 2010 registration and enrollment period.

Walk-in advising hours for the Spring 2010 semester will resume during the spring semester and will be determined by the first week of classes. I will email out my walk-in advising hours as soon as possible, as well as post them on our website and in the Gender and Women’s Studies office.

Please note: Certificate approval for the completion of LGBT Studies certificates will be granted mid-spring. No need to worry, I must physically grant approval for each student individually. DARS does not automatically grant approval.

III. Capstone:

Complete the 3-credit LGBT Capstone Seminar, WS 642. In the past the Capstone seminar has been offered as a special topic course under WS 340. However, effective Spring 2008, the Capstone seminar will be WS 642.

Enrollment in the Capstone Seminar (GWS 642) for the spring semester has been made by consent of instructor only. Email Prof. Anne Enke (aenke@wisc.edu) for permission to enroll.

The Capstone seminar can only be taken after already completing at least 9 credits of coursework towards the LGBT Studies certificate. As a substitution for the Capstone seminar during semesters when 642 is not offered, it is possible to complete a 3-credit "directed study 699" course with a faculty member so long as it is withing the guidelines of the LGBT Studies Certificate Program. Please see below.

The substitution of the 3-credit directed study 699 course for the Capstone seminar MUST be approved by the LGBT Studies certificate advisor.

Guidelines for the LGBT Studies Certificate capstone directed study include:

1. Addressing LGBT issues
2. Adopting a critical perspective on sex/gender categories and norms
3. Taking a multicultural approach to the diverse ways in which sexualities are named and played out
4. Addressing dynamics of power, oppression and marginalized (as well as privileged) statuses linked with sex/gender categories

IV. Limitations:

1. Not more that 3 credits of work for the LGBT certificate may be in independent studies.

2. Not more than 9 credits can be used to count for both the LGBT certificate and either the Women's Studies major or the Women's Studies Certificate.

Supplementary Information for Certificate in LGBT Studies

1. Students wishing to earn the LGBT certificate should meet with the LGBT certificate advisor to declare their candidacy for the certificate. The advisor is Nina Valeo Cooke.

2. Students wishing to complete a 3-credit "Directed Study" (699) course as a substitute for the Capstone Seminar should request from the LGBT certificate advisor a list of faculty members who have agreed to supervise such "Directed Study" courses within the guidelines of the LGBT Certificate Program. The student must get approval from the professor willing to supervise and get prior approval from the certificate advisor for the proposed substitute 699, and then, after registering for the "Directed Study" course with a faculty member on the list, must inform the advisor that this "Directed Study" course with a specific faculty member in a specific semester is being taken as a substitute for the Capstone Seminar.

3. Seniors with a GPA of at least 3.5 can count graduate courses toward the LGBT certificate if they have the approval of the instructor, and if the course is approved by the LGBT certificate advisor. According to L&S rules, no more than one such course can be taken a semester toward the L&S degree.

4. Students who do not complete the LGBT certificate requirements by the time of graduation may earn the certificate after graduation by subsequently completing the certificate requirements.

5. Special students can earn the LGBT certificate.

6. Students and faculty are requested to inform the LGBT certificate advisor of current or past courses that might qualify for LGBT certificate credit. Students and faculty are also requested to provide as detailed information as possible regarding those courses. Those courses could include special topics courses taught by certain faculty members in specific semesters. The LGBT certificate advisor, in consultation with the LGBT certificate committee, will determine which past or present courses qualify for LGBT certificate credit.

7. Students who have declared the certificate can check on their progress through their DARS reports. However, all certificate students must notify the LGBT certificate advisor either during or after the semester they are completing the certificate in order to get approval of completion. The certificate is not awarded automatically based on DARS. If there are any questions about a DARS report, please contact the certificate advisor, Nina Valeo Cooke.

See Current Course Offerings

See Undergraduate Course Descriptions