The graduate option in Gender and Women's Studies is an interdisciplinary program for students who meet the degree requirements in Geography who wish to earn 9 credits of approved coursework focusing on gender and women's studies, and issues in feminist research and methods. The student's doctoral thesis must be on a topic centrally relating to issues of gender and/or women's studies.

A thesis for the doctoral degree must constitute original scholarship and must be a distinct contribution to knowledge. It must show familiarity with previous work in the field and must demonstrate ability to plan and carry out research, organize results, and defend the approach and conclusions in a scholarly manner. The research presented must meet current standards of the discipline; as well, the thesis must clearly demonstrate how the research advances knowledge in the field. Finally, the thesis must be written in compliance with norms for academic and scholarly expression and for publication in the public domain.