Women’s and Gender Studies

Carla A. Pfeffer, Director

The Women’s and Gender Studies Program at the University of South Carolina promotes an understanding of the experiences of women and other underrepresented groups through a complete program of teaching, research, and service to the University, the local community, the state, the nation and the global community. Through its research mission, the program reconceptualizes knowledge, creates new knowledge, and reinterprets existing knowledge through the lens of gender and the prism of diversity. Its teaching mission is to share this knowledge with students so that they learn to think critically, to communicate effectively, to solve problems, and to interpret human experience. Emerging from an activist tradition, the program serves University, local, state, national and global communities by acting as a resource and guide for issues related to women and gender. Our research, teaching, and service missions interweave as we create, share, and apply the knowledge, skills, and values that promote the full participation of women and other underrepresented groups in society.

There are two introductory courses: WGST 112 and WGST 113 . Students in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Music may apply WGST 112 for social science general education requirements. WGST 112 may be counted for elective credit in the Moore School of Business, the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, and the College of Nursing.

Women’s and Gender Studies Minor

Students may minor in women’s and gender studies by completing 18 hours of specified courses.

Bachelor of Arts in Women’s and Gender Studies

A student may also pursue a major in the field through the Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in women’s and gender studies.

Further information may be obtained from the College of Arts and Sciences or the Women’s and Gender Studies.

Courses

WGST 112 - Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies (3 Credits)

A social science perspective of women in psychological, sociological, historical, anthropological, economic, and political contexts; the changing roles, images, and institutions.

Carolina Core: GSS, VSR

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Community Service, GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy

WGST 113 - Women's Health (3 Credits)

Basic functioning of the female body; effects of society on processes of health and disease. Not for natural sciences credit.

Carolina Core: GSS

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 207 - Gender and Culture (3 Credits)

Anthropological study of gender, with emphasis on cross-cultural investigation of the interaction of biological, cultural, and environmental factors including intersections of race, social class, and sexuality as influences gender behavior.

Cross-listed course: ANTH 207

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 210 - Human Life Cycles in Different Cultures (3 Credits)

Childhood, maturity, old age, and gender socialization within the family.

Cross-listed course: ANTH 210

Carolina Core: GSS

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Community Service, GLD: Global Learning, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 298 - Issues in Women's and Gender Studies (1-3 Credits)

Course content varies and will be announced in the schedule of courses by title. May be repeated as content varies by title.

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 299 - Women's and Gender Studies Internship for Non-Majors (3 Credits)

Supervised experience addressing a community organization’s needs and allowing the student to explore an aspect of the community related to women’s and gender studies issues. Contract approval by advisor required.

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 300 - Sex and Gender (3 Credits)

Offers a sociological lens to develop critical ways of thinking about sex and gender as social processes in everyday lives. This course considers how sex and gender shape and affect the experiences of women, men, girls, boys, and individuals who live in the spaces in-between (those who are intersex or transgender) across a wide range of social institutions (family, work, education, politics, etc.).

Prerequisites: SOCY 101.

Cross-listed course: SOCY 301

Carolina Core: GSS

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 301 - Psychology of Marriage (3 Credits)

The psychological, physiological, and social characteristics of marriage.

Cross-listed course: PSYC 301

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 304 - Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality (3 Credits)

Historical and contemporary power relationships in race, social class, gender, and sexual orientation.

Cross-listed course: POLI 305, SOCY 304

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Community Service, GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 305 - Sociology of Families (3 Credits)

Sociological perspectives related to various aspects of family behaviors, roles, and values.

Cross-listed course: SOCY 305

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 306 - Social Welfare Services for Women and Minorities (3 Credits)

Social welfare services available to women and minorities and the forces that shape these services.

Cross-listed course: SOWK 305

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Community Service, GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 307 - Feminist Theory (3 Credits)

Historical development of feminist theory and contemporary debates within feminism.

Cross-listed course: POLI 307

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 308 - African-American Feminist Theory (3 Credits)

An interdisciplinary survey of the contributions of African-American women to feminist theory.

Cross-listed course: AFAM 308

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 309 - LGBTQ+ Studies (3 Credits)

Overview of theories, history, literature, politics, legal, health, and social issues connected to sexualities, including the intersections of gender, race, and social class.

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 310 - Psychology of Women (3 Credits)

Women’s experiences: childhood and adolescence, work, family, cultural images, adjustment and social change.

Cross-listed course: PSYC 310

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 311 - Minorities, Women, and the Mass Media (3 Credits)

The study of the relationship among persons of color, women, and the mass media.

Cross-listed course: JOUR 311

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 320 - Sexuality and Gender in Ancient Greece (3 Credits)

Gender roles, standards of sexual behavior, evidence for women’s lives, as manifested in ancient Greek literary and archaeological evidence; attitudes toward homosexuality; the modern media’s representation of famous Greeks.

Cross-listed course: CLAS 320

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 321 - Sexuality, Gender, and Power in Ancient Rome (3 Credits)

Sexuality as a social construct exemplified in standards of sexual behavior in ancient Rome and their reinforcement of the ruling ideology; feminine virtue, definitions of manliness, attitudes toward homosexuality.

Cross-listed course: CLAS 321

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 333 - Sex, Gender, and Religion (3 Credits)

Gender and sexuality in the shaping of social and individual identity in religious contexts.

Cross-listed course: RELG 333

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 334 - Feminist Philosophy (3 Credits)

Introduces feminist philosophy and applications to philosophical problems.

Cross-listed course: PHIL 334

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 335 - Women in China (3 Credits)

Introduces the connection between gender and the Chinese national imagination. Readings include cultural and historical documents that purport to explain the experience of women in China. Readings in English. Taught in English.

Cross-listed course: CHIN 335

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Global Learning, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 351 - The Family in Cross-Cultural Perspective (3 Credits)

Kinship, systems of descent, marriage, and domestic organization in different cultures. Variations in childrearing practices, gender, and other aspects of social relations in kin groups. Cross-listed Course: ANTH 351

Cross-listed course: ANTH 351

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Global Learning, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 352 - Gender and Politics (3 Credits)

Impact of gender on the distribution of power in society; foundations for intersections of gender, race, social class, and sexuality and their economic, social, and political concomitants.

Cross-listed course: POLI 352

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 376 - Holy Women (3 Credits)

Holy women from various periods and religious traditions, and how they demonstrate the different ways communities understand ideas of holiness, from piety, martyrdom, monasticism and mysticism to social action.

Cross-listed course: RELG 376

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 379 - Women in Modern Europe (3 Credits)

Survey of women in European history from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century. Focus on women’s citizenship beginning with Enlightenment idea of rights through developments in modern feminism.

Cross-listed course: HIST 379

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Global Learning, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 381 - Gender and Globalization (3 Credits)

Examines the dialectic between globalization and the social construction of gender. Topics include the global assembly line, transnational markets for domestic labor and sex workers, and global feminist alliances.

Prerequisites: C or better in ANTH 102 or WGST 112.

Cross-listed course: ANTH 381

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Global Learning, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 388 - Cultures, Pregnancy, and Birth (3 Credits)

Anthropological study of pregnancy and birth with a cross-cultural focus comparing the United States to other nations. Examination of cultural factors such as prenatal care, dietary practices, taboos, birth location, practitioners, and birthing styles.

Cross-listed course: ANTH 388

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 392 - Global Women's Health (3 Credits)

This course examines health concerns important in the lives of women around the world through an overview of contemporary issues and challenges in the field of global health, broadly construed.

Cross-listed course: ANTH 392

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 398 - Special Topics in Women's and Gender Studies (1-3 Credits)

Course content varies and will be announced in the schedule of courses by title. May be repeated as content varies by title.

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 399 - Independent Study (3 Credits)

Contract approved by instructor, advisor, and director of women’s studies required for undergraduate students.

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences, GLD: Research

WGST 430 - Topics in Women's Studies (1-3 Credits)

Course content varies and will be announced in the schedule of courses by title.

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 431 - Women's Studies Workshop (1 Credit)

Selected small action-research project on selected issue(s) in women’s studies.

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences, GLD: Research

WGST 432 - Men and Masculinities (3 Credits)

This course provides an overview of psychological, social, physical, and emotional issues related to men’s lives. Major topics include: gender construction, men and work, men and health, men in relationships, male sexualities, men in families, and masculinities in the media and popular culture.

Cross-listed course: PSYC 432

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 437 - Women Writers (3 Credits)

Representative works written by women.

Prerequisites: C or higher in both ENGL 101 and ENGL 102.

Cross-listed course: ENGL 437

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 445 - LGTBQ+ Literature (3 Credits)

This course will examine LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and other nonnormative sexual identities) literatures and cultures.

Prerequisites: C or better in ENGL 101 and ENGL 102.

Cross-listed course: ENGL 445

WGST 450 - LGBTQ History in the United States (3 Credits)

Exploration of LGBTQ history and communities in America from the Colonial Era to the present, using lenses of gender and sexuality to understand historical events.

Cross-listed course: HIST 450

WGST 454 - Women and the Law (3 Credits)

Constitutional and statutory case law dealing with gender equality issues. Topics include abortion, affirmative action, pornography, sexual harassment, fetal protection policies, employment discrimination, and women in the military.

Cross-listed course: POLI 454

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 464 - History of American Women (3 Credits)

The social, political, and economic roles and changing status of women in America.

Cross-listed course: HIST 464

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 485 - Women’s Rhetoric (3 Credits)

Study of rhetoric by and about women as manifested in speeches, essays, and other rhetorical artifacts.

Cross-listed course: ENGL 485, SPCH 485

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 487 - Black Women Writers (3 Credits)

An examination of literature by and about black women, including fiction, poetry, drama, and autobiography. This study will focus on issues that emerge from the creative representations of black women and the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and class that interrogate what is both particular and universal experiences.

Prerequisites: ENGL 101; ENGL 102.

Cross-listed course: AFAM 487, ENGL 487

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 499 - Community Service Internship (3 Credits)

Supervised experience addressing a community organization's needs and allowing the student to explore an aspect of the community related to women's and gender studies issues. Contract approval by advisor required.

Prerequisites: C or better in WGST 112 or WGST 113; C or better in one additional WGST course at the 200-level or higher.

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Internships

Experiential Learning: Experiential Learning Opportunity

WGST 515 - Race, Gender, and Graphic Novels (3 Credits)

Representations of race and gender in comics with a special emphasis on the experiences of African Americans.

Cross-listed course: AFAM 515

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 525 - The Psychology of the Midlife Woman (3 Credits)

Biological, social, and psychological aspects of the midlife woman.

Cross-listed course: PSYC 525

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 535 - Ecofeminism (3 Credits)

An exploration of the connections between oppression of women and oppression of nature.

Prerequisites: 3 hours in philosophy beyond the 100 level.

Cross-listed course: PHIL 535

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 541 - Issues in Women's Health (3 Credits)

An exploration of women’s health and health care concerns from multiple perspectives.

Cross-listed course: NURS 541

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 551 - Adolescent Mentoring (3 Credits)

Application of skills and theories of adolescent mentoring taught in the classroom to a supervised, structured mentoring field experience.

Cross-listed course: CRJU 551

WGST 554 - Women and Crime (3 Credits)

Impact of gender-based relations on crime and the criminal justice system.

Cross-listed course: CRJU 554

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Global Learning, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 555 - Language and Gender (3 Credits)

Approaches to gender and language emphasizing the social grounding of both; how language reflects sociocultural values and is a tool for constructing different types of social organization.

Cross-listed course: ANTH 555, LING 541

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 598 - Special Topics in Women's & Gender Studies (3 Credits)

Course content varies and will be announced in the schedule of courses by title. May be repeated as content varies by title.

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 621 - Maternal and Child Health (3 Credits)

Public health issues, social and behavioral science, policies, programs, and services related to maternal and child health in the United States and other countries.

Cross-listed course: HPEB 621

Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences

WGST 627 - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Health (3 Credits)

Health status and concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. Includes an examination of measurement issues and methodological considerations in research, as well as intervention efforts targeting LGBT populations.

2021-2022 Academic Bulletin

Women’s and Gender Studies