Humanities Student Spotlight:

First Doctoral Degree in Women's Studies Granted

On Sunday, March 16, Min Sook Heo of South Korea became the first student to receive a doctorate in women's studies since the Ph.D. was approved in 2001. Dr. Heo's dissertation is titled Globally Agreed Upon, Locally Troubled: The Construction of Anti-Violence Legislation, Human Rights Discourse, and Domestic Violence in South Korea and was based on field work conducted in 2006 on the 1993-2006 campaign to develop and implement anti-domestic violence legislation. Her dissertation research was funded in part by a grant from the Coca-Cola Critical Difference for Women Research on Gender and Women program and a travel grant from the Office of International Affairs. Her committee members were Cathy A. Rakowski (advisor), Jill Bystydzienski, Cynthia Burack, and Christine Keating.

Dr. Heo received her master's in women's studies from Keimyung University, Dae-Gu, South Korea. She plans to return to South Korea where she will contribute to the academic field of women's studies and to women's human rights advocacy campaigns.

The Department of Women's Studies currently has 17 students enrolled in its Ph.D. program. Three of those students expect to receive their doctoral degrees by summer 2008.