Masters

Program Requirements

Course Intensive Option 

This program option consists of courses and a field examination for a minimum of 36 units.

Students must complete:

• GSWS 811 - Professional Development Colloquium I (3)
• GSWS 812 - Professional Development Colloquium II (3)
• GSWS 822 - Graduate Seminar in Feminist Theory (5)

and one of

• GSWS 800 - Toolkit for GSWS Research (5)
• GSWS 826 - Graduate Seminar on Queer/Trans Studies (5)

and an additional 14 units of graduate courses*

and a field examination

• GSWS 999 - MA Field Exam (6)

*Two of these courses may be from gender, sexuality, and women's studies courses at the universities under the Western Deans’ Agreement or relevant offerings in other Simon Fraser University departments, with the approval of the student's supervisory committee.

Application Procedure

Graduate Studies has recently implemented an online application procedure.

Apply using the online application system. Note that there is an application fee.

MA Application Package

1. Letters of reference from three people who are familiar with you and qualifies to evaluate your capacity for graduate academic work. Note that we do not provide reference forms, so the letters of reference must include complete contact information for the referees.
2. Applicants are required to upload digital transcripts (e.g. scanned copy, photocopy etc) showing course titles and grading scales as part of the online application. Please note that all transcripts uploaded by applicants are considered unofficial. Official transcripts are required only after an offer of admission is made and they should be sent directly to Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellows. Official transcripts showing degree completion are required prior to enrolling at SFU. We recommend submitting your transcripts approximately 2 months prior to your first term (If you previously attended SFU, you do not need to submit official SFU transcripts.) For more details about the requirements for official transcripts via mail or email, please see: https://www.sfu.ca/gradstudies/apply/applying/gograd.html 
3. A 750 to 1200 word statement of your proposed area of study. For the course-intensive option, this should include some of the courses in which you are most interested; this should include a proposed topic, and a description of the approach you wish to take, including main academic fields of study.
4. A short curriculum vita showing relevant course work, employment and volunteer work.
5. A sample of your scholarly work, such as an upper-level (third or fourth year) essay, an essay prepared especially for this application, a substantive portion of your honours thesis (if applicable) or samples of any academic publications. Minimum 500 words, maximum 1500 words.
   
6. If your first language is not English then an original TOEFL certificate or IELTS is required. International applicants will not be required to complete an English-language test if they have completed a degree at an institution where the language of instruction and examination was in English in a country where English is the primary language. Please see: https://www.sfu.ca/gradstudies/apply/applying/requirements.html

For the list of SFU Graduate Awards and Entrance Scholarships, please see https://www.sfu.ca/gradstudies/awards-funding.html

Please Note

Unless you are a Canadian Citizen or Landed Immigrant, your work opportunities as a graduate student will be limited to employment on campus. We cannot, and will not in the future be able to, provide support for all our students.

The Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Graduate Program Admissions Committee meets shortly after the application deadline and looks at all applications at the same time.