Each year there are approximately 35 students studying for research degrees. Throughout their registration period, students are given specialised research supervision in their main area of study. This is supported by an academic thesis panel, designed to offer additional help and guidance.
Key specialities of CWS Core staff are:
- Professor Victoria Robinson: Feminist theory, gender and sexualities (especially heterosexuality), men and masculinities, fashion and footwear cultures; risk sports; debates in women’s, gender and masculinity studies in the academy; feminist sociology of everyday life.
- Professor Stevi Jackson: Feminist theory, theories of gender and sexuality, women's and family relationships, sociology of childhood.
- Dr Rachel Alsop: Contemporary developments in feminist theory; issues of body image (particularly in relation to aesthetic surgery); gender based violence and refugee and migrant women; and girls’ rights.
- Dr Boriana Alexandrova Medical humanities; disability theory; modern and contemporary global literatures; contemporary women’s writing and performance; trauma theory and survivors’ narratives; embodiment; feminist and queer art-activism; ethics; literary multilingualism and translation; postcoloniality.
- Dr Clare Bielby: Violence, representation and gender; violence, subjectivity and affect/emotion; terrorism and gender; the field of perpetrator studies. History of feminism, particularly German feminisms; queer studies and feminist queer theory; subjectivity and narratives of the self; gender, sexuality and representation.
- Dr Evangeline Tsao: Visual methodologies; theories of gender and sexuality; popular culture and representation
Visit the programme website for more information
Programme Structure
Modules include:
- Research: The main focus of the MPhil and PhD degrees is in research and the writing of a thesis.
- Taught modules: All students will audit one or more modules to support their research and to develop their research skills.
- To ‘audit’ a module means to fully participate in the seminar reading, preparatory exercises, and class discussion, but to omit the assessment.
- The choice of modules is decided in consultation with a student’s supervisor. Most students new to CWS will take some core modules in year one (see the MA programme for details).
Check out the full curriculum
Admission requirements
Academic requirements
GPA: Upper Second Class
English requirements
TOEFL iBT 87 OR IELTS 6.5
Other requirements
General requirements
Typically you’ll need at least the equivalent to a UK upper second-class (2:1) honours degree and, in some cases, a Masters degree. Actual requirements vary by course.
Make sure you meet all requirements
Fees and funding
Tuition Fees
International: 48,285 AUD/year (approx. 25,350 GBP/year)
Domestic: 9,977 AUD/year (approx. 5,238 GBP/year)
Living costs
York, United Kingdom: 1,230-2,141 AUD/month. The living costs include the total expenses per month, covering accommodation, public transportation, utilities (electricity, internet), books and groceries.
