Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Islamic Studies: Gender and Women's Studies

This option is an interdisciplinary program for students who wish to specialize in Islamic Studies and earn 9 credits of approved coursework focusing on gender and women’s studies, and issues in feminist research and methods. The student’s Ph.D. thesis must be on a topic centrally relating to issues of gender and/or women’s studies. Students pursuing the Ph.D. in Islamic Studies at the Institute normally have a graduate specialization in the Humanities or Social Sciences, preferably in Islamic Studies or Middle Eastern Studies. Knowledge of Arabic or Persian at the second-year level is an asset. Admission to the Ph.D. program will be granted on the basis of the Admissions Committee's opinion that the applicant can successfully fulfil the academic requirements of the program within an appropriate span of time (normally six years). The language component of the degree is demanding; students are required to have knowledge of Arabic or Persian, a second Islamic language, and a research (usually European) language.
Our Institute has been extremely successful in placing its Ph.D. graduates in top-ranking academic jobs in North America. Institute alumni now hold positions at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, as well as at leading Canadian universities. Our graduates help to ensure that a plurality of approaches to Islamic civilization is available to the students of today and tomorrow.