Gender Studies

Gender studies focus on analysis of historical, as well as contemporary manifestations, of gender order; influence of feminist and queer theories and methods in scientific research; they also probe the relationship between gender and other categories of social differentiation and stratification such as race, ethnicity, social status, age, sexuality, disability, and others.

One of the specific strengths and an internationally recognized expertize of the Gender Studies program is the emphasis put on analysis and reflection of post-socialist experiences, gender structuring of the late-socialist Czechoslovak society, and “East European” societies in general.

The English Master's program in Gender Studies is open to university students from all over the world. The admission procedure is not restricted to students from the EU but is open to students from other countries and continents as well. At the Faculty of Humanities, we pride ourselves on being a non-discriminatory and fair institution and applicants of all nationalities, ethnicities, cultural, and social backgrounds, ages, and genders are welcome.

The Faculty of Humanities offers the possibility of obtaining a scholarship for outstanding academic achievements, as well as a scholarship for covering the costs of the tuition fee, to all students enrolled in a Master’s programme taught in a foreign language.

Unlike in the educational systems in Western democracies, until very recently Gender Studies or any gender related courses have not been at all a part of college education (or any other education for that matter) in either Czechoslovakia or the Czech Republic. The creation and accreditation of the M.A. program in Gender Studies is a completely new phenomenon, the program has been accredited by the Czech Ministry of Education only in June 2004, and until this day our program has remained the only M.A. program in gender in the entire country. On the B.A. level it has been accompanied by a program in Gender at the Department of Sociology at the School of Social Studies at Masaryk University in Brno, the only B.A. program in gender in the Czech Republic.

Until 1998 education in gender studies has existed only thanks to the lecture and seminar activities realized and supported by the Gender Studies NGO in Prague, and similar organizations in Brno. From 1993 the NGO was offering a traveling course in gender studies, consisting of lectures and presentations by leading Czech and Slovak experts and scholars in the field of gender studies and feminist theories. Throughout the years, this course has been traveling through several universities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, offering at least the basic information and knowledge in the field to interested students and faculty. For almost five years this activity of the Gender Studies NGO substituted for and played a role of an academic institution, but for a real academic status at the university level gender studies had to wait until 1998.

In october 1998 the Academic Senate of the Faculty of Arts at Charles University in Prague (FA CU) has approved the proposal of an expert team of scholars from the circle around the Gender Studies NGO and created a Center for Gender Studies as an independent academic site under the Department of Social Work at FF UK. The goal of the center was to offer an interdisciplinary variety of gender related courses to students of all departments of the school and thus create an opportunity for a systematic study of gender.

However, despite academic and fundraising successes of the center, in summer of 2003 the Academic Senate FF UK has decided to cancel the existence of the center based on an argumentation that gender studies are not a field, which FF UK would like to develop as an integral aspect of the school. Gender studies has moved to the Faculty of Humanities at Charles University, where the program and potential department has gained an unequivocal and full support from the school administration. The department of Gender Studies as an administrative unit ceased to exist due to a general re-structuralisation of the Faculty in 2020. Its core, the Gender Studies program, however, relentlessly continues with the work.

The Master's program in Gender Studies is specifically conceptualized in a way so that its students obtain relevant knowledge and skills while deepening their understanding of gender constructions and the main principles functioning in society. Students should be able to critically and complexly evaluate the roles and meanings of these constructions in the overall organization of society. Likewise, they should be able to assess and analyze consequences of gender roles, constructions, stereotypes of both contemporary and historical position of women and men in society.

The goal of the program is to familiarize its students with gender analysis in diverse areas of social life in order to get them ready for careers in a wide range of professional fields, including state administration, social policy, social and medical care, social and legal work, education and academic work.

Graduates of the Master's program in Gender Studies will find their careers in governmental and non-governmental organizations, especially in national and international institutions, organizations concerned with social questions, family matters, domestic and public violence, human rights and equal opportunities, development of civil society, sustainable development, labour law, and others. The graduates can use their skills as mediators in conflict resolution; they can also grow their careers in academic research and/or education. Through applying methods of social change they will be able to inspire advanced gender sensibility and use applied gender analysis with gender-differentiated attitudes.

Above all, they will be able to contribute to so-called "gender mainstreaming", i.e. to the integration of gender-differentiated attitudes and principles to the fundamental socio-political and cultural structures of the society. They will be able to cultivate principles and an environment of social justice, support gender balance, equality, human and civil rights, and sexual autonomy. Graduates of the program will also be able to find their careers in theoretical and pedagogical teams in academia, and thus contribute to the development and broadening of gender studies on an interdisciplinary level, in both research and teaching.

1. By ??/??, 2027, submit a motivation letter (500 - 700 words), structured CV (curriculum vitae), proof of English competency at B2 level or higher, and an academic paper (4 500 - 5 000 words) in English before the submission deadline.

   • Academic Paper: The text should be between 4,500 and 5,000 words long and must adhere to the standards of academic writing; the bibliography does not count towards the overall word count. The academic text may be a defended Bachelor’s thesis or its summary, an article published in an academic journal, or any new essay in which the applicant decides to demonstrate their academic expertise; it must be written by the applicant only – co-authorship is not permitted.

     
     

     The application materials will be evaluated and scored by an interdisciplinary selection committee.

     
     

     Please note that all the required documents must be attached as files in your online application (My applications → Attachments/Progress → Upload an attachment to my application – Attachment type → Upload file).

   • Proof of English Competency: Applicants are required to submit proof of English competency at min. B2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The applicant's level of English should be substantiated by an international certificate (IELTS, TOEFL, Oxford Test of English, etc.) or a similar national certificate. Applicants can also use their diploma as proof of English competency in case it specifies English as the language of instruction.

2. Submit proof of your previous education (i.e. BA diploma). If you graduated outside the Czech Republic, you must submit an officially recognized/nostrified document validating your foreign education. More information on the process of recognition and nostrification can be found here:

   
   

   Recognition of Foreign Diplomas and Degrees

Please note: The recognition/nostrification process can take a long time (1-3 months) and its successful completion is a necessary component of formal admission into the program. You will receive an official acceptance letter from the university only after your foreign degree diploma has been recognized/nostrified in the Czech Republic. When planning your enrolment and studies, keep in mind that you should submit all the relevant documents sufficiently in advance.

Deadline for applicants to submit their previous education certificate is ??/??, 2027. Applicants who are unable to get their foreign diploma recognized/nostrified until the end of September are allowed to submit a copy of their BA diploma no later than October ??, 2027. This is the extended and final deadline for enrolment in the 2027/2028 academic year. Please, keep in mind that the academic year already starts on October 1.

If you need to apply for student visas in order to study in Prague, please, make effort to complete all of the required steps of the admission process on time.

GENERAL OVERVIEW

A number of study requirements are necessary to follow in order to successfully finish your study:

• The study programme is designed to take 2 years (4 semesters). However, students have up to five years from their official admission to to finish their studies.

• A minimum of 120 ECTS credits is required (for more info on the ECTS system, visit this link).

• All mandatory courses must be completed. Ideally, they are to be completed by the end of the academic year in which they were begun. However, it is possible to delay their competition for up to one year. If the student fails to complete their mandatory courses after the additional year of study, this is reason for the University to terminate their studies.

  • Individual study plan is the sole exception to this rule. ISP is only granted on special grounds and upon request at the beginning of each semester.

• A minimum of 50 ECTS is necessary to proceed with the study from the first year to the second year. The limit to pass from the second year to the third is 100 ECTS.

COURSES OVERVIEW

There are three categories of courses - compulsory courses, elective courses, and optional courses. You can register for elective and optional courses via SIS. Compulsory courses are registered for you by your study program secretary at the beginning of the academic year. Compulsory and electives courses are from the Gender Study program, the optional courses can be any course from the Faculty of Humanities or from the other faculties of the Charles University if the requirements for the registration of the course are fulfilled (e.g. pre-requisity). More information about course registration is availabe here.

STUDY PLAN EFFECTIVE SINCE 2020/2021:

Mandatory courses	72 ECTS
Elective courses	min. 36 ECTS
Final examination	0
Diploma Thesis Defense	0
Total:	120 ECTS

Note: 72 + 36 = 108 12 ECTS max. for optional courses

Mandatory courses: I. semester	ECTS
The History of Feminist Thinking	4
Feminist Literary Theory and Criticism	4
Epistemology of Science	4
Methodology in Social Sciences	4
Interpretation of Philosophical Texts	4
Argumentation and Academic Discourse	4

Mandatory courses: II. semester	ECTS
Comparative History of Sexuality	4
Feminist Cultural Studies	4
Politics of Identity: Theory and Criticism	4
Social Structures and Institutions	4
Intersectionality: Theory and Methods	4
Diploma Seminar I - Concept	4
Total Number of Credits for Mandatory Courses for the First Year of Study	48

Mandatory courses: III. semester	ECTS
Comparative Gender in Global Perspective	4
Sociology of Medicine and Gender Aspects of Health	4
Diploma Seminar II - Research	4

Mandatory courses: IV. semester	ECTS
Gender in Theory and Practice: Applied Gender Theory	4
Diploma Seminar III - Writing	8
Final State Exams	0
Diploma Thesis	0
Total Number of Credits for Mandatory Courses for the Second Year of Study	24

Total Number of Credits for all Mandatory Courses

72 ECTS

Apart from the mandatory courses, a student must also obtain 48 ECTS in order to attain a total of 120 credits necessary to successfully complete the study. From 48 ECTS max 12 ECTS can be for optional courses, the rest is for elective courese that are offered by Gender Studies program.

The standard duration of study is 2 years. A standard number of credits to be completed each semester is thus 30 ECTS.

See the full study plan and elective courses here:

Gender Studies - Plan of Study

Complete study requirements, including the final state exams and diploma thesis, are available here:

Gender Studies - Complete Information

Hello, my name is Jella and I am from Germany! Coming from a European Studies background, I moved to Prague to study Gender Studies at Charles University in autumn 2024. When I was looking for Master's programs in this field, what captivated me most about Charles University were the fascinating titles of the courses. I have learned so much in the past year and my perspective on the world, its power dynamics and inequalities has greatly improved as a result of my studies.

What makes Gender Studies at Charles University unique for me is also the wide range of courses that students can choose from. I like how the program does not prescribe all the courses that students have to take, but allows for self-determination and adaptation to students' personal interests. There is a wide variety of elective courses each semester and so far, it has never been difficult to find a course that has sparked my curiosity – be it ‘Gender in Migration Studies’, ‘Geographies of Sexualities’ or courses related to art and film: the course catalogue offers something interesting for everyone.

At the beginning of my studies, I was worried that not having studied Gender Studies at Bachelor’s level might become an obstacle, and I think this might also be a concern for other prospective applicants. Therefore, I would like to emphasize that no one of my fellow students has studied Gender Studies at Bachelor's level and we all come from different degree programs, such as Law, Cultural Studies or Political Science. And this is not an obstacle at all, but the way everyone brings in their academic background during the debates in class is very enriching!

Furthermore, I would recommend this program for international applicants, because the study environment is very close and relational – both among students and between students and teachers. Our group of Gender Studies students almost feels like a group of friends and I cherish a lot our long talks in front of the faculty building after classes or the walks to our beloved coffee machine during breaks. Particularly when studying in a foreign country, such support is essential, and it takes a lot of pressure off when you know that you can turn to both your fellow students and your teachers if you have concerns.

The Head of the Study Programme

doc. Věra Sokolová, M.A., Ph.D. (Dean of the Faculty)

Secretary of the Study Programme

RNDr. Mgr. Olga Kurtinová, Ph.D.

: ;

: +420 224 271 451

: 2.40 (Pátkova 2137/5, 182 00 Praha 8 - Libeň)

I'm available in person in office 2.40 with prior appointment.