Program Highlights

Our thesis-based, interdisciplinary Master of Arts degree is offered cooperatively by Mount Saint Vincent University and Saint Mary’s University. At Mount Saint Vincent University, the program is offered through out Department of Women’s Studies. As a student in this program, you’ll have the opportunity to work with faculty and graduate students at both. Your studies in feminist and gender theory may be engaged in media and literature; community and society; law, politics and social justice; health and the body; sexuality and gender; race, ethnicity and class; history; education; and many more aspects of our everyday lives.

Learn more about the Graduate Women and Gender Studies program »

Meaningful Research

To earn your Master of Arts in Women and Gender Studies (MA WGS), you will complete six graduate courses and a thesis. Your thesis will allow you to research and explore a topic that relates to a focused area within the field of women and gender studies. You will work closely with your supervisor—a faculty member at either university—to develop your thesis topic, and to research and write your thesis.

The Department of Women’s Studies at the Mount is home to the Nancy’s Chair in Women’s Studies. Endowed by well-known Toronto-based feminist and philanthropist Nancy Ruth, the Chair raises awareness of women’s issues by bringing to campus distinguished scholars in women’s studies and activists who have contributed to the advancement of women. As a graduate student in Women & Gender Studies, you may have the opportunity to participate in Nancy’s Chair research initiatives. Each year, a limited number of paid research assistantships are available to graduate students.

Joint Program

The Master of Arts in Women & Gender Studies is a program offered jointly by Mount Saint Vincent University and Saint Mary’s University.

What does it means to be enrolled in a joint program »

We recommend that if you are planning to apply to this joint Master’s program, you complete application forms at both Mount Saint Vincent University and Saint Mary’s University. Completing both applications will increase your chances of being offered admission and funding.

A Flexible Learning Environment

Whether you’re working, studying full-time, or balancing the demands of your family, your career, and your education, we’re ready to help you succeed. At the Mount, we are committed to providing our students with flexible and accessible learning options. Many of our courses are offered in the evenings. We welcome both full-time and part-time students.

Your Career

The MA in Women and Gender Studies will not only give you a deep understanding of issues that relate to gender and feminism and the ways these issues affect our lives, it will prepare you for doctoral studies, or for a career in consulting, government, and the private, arts, and not-for-profit sectors.

News & Announcements

A huge congratulations to Helen Yao 2025 graduate of the Women and Gender Studies Programme! She was awarded the MSVU Senate Medal (awarded to the top ranked student in the Department) and the prestigious Governor General Award (selected amongst all MSVU graduate students. We’re so proud of you! Her thesis is titled “Prying into the Cavities: An Abolition Feminist Archival Inquiry of the 2015 Dalhousie Dentistry Restorative Justice Process”, excavates competing discourses in the wake of the “Dalhousie Dentistry Scandal”, where the public discovered a series of misogynistic and homophobic postings within a private Facebook group featuring only male Dentistry students. Guided by Sara Ahmed’s (2021) method of “hearing with a feminist ear”, the project explores narratives from local feminists, students, faculty, the University administration, and members of the public. Particularly, it focuses on the reactions to the University’s utilization of restorative justice as a disciplinary procedure. The goal of this abolition feminist inquiry is to complicate prevailing narratives regarding the institutionalization of restorative justice, especially its use as a gender violence response. Moreover, it seeks to understand the contradictions and tensions that emerge when neoliberal institutions adopt so-called radical practices.

Helen plans to continue her studies in a PhD programme.

Congratulation to Ash Avery 2025 Women and Gender Studies Graduate! We are very proud of you! Ash Avery’s thesis is entitled: “Frameworks for Freedom: Abolition Work During COVID-19, in Mi’kma’ki” and takes the form of an autoethnographic zine, weaving together poetry, journal entries, teachings, and practical tools to reflect on their frontline leadership in prison abolition work during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Rooted in feminist and abolitionist frameworks, this creative and accessible piece documents the contradictions, challenges, and insights of working within community organizations to address systemic harm. Designed not only as academic research but also as a resource for others engaged in justice transformation, the zine serves as both personal testimony and a living offering to the community.