Women’s and Gender Studies Major, B.A.

The Department of Women’s and Gender Studies offers a feminist interdisciplinary course of study that expands the process of knowledge production to include considerations of gender, race, class, and sexuality in the United States and globally. Students are exposed to scholarship on feminist theory and the intellectual, economic, political, and artistic contributions of women and feminist movements in various historical and cultural contexts.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the women’s and gender studies program, students should be able to:

  • Demonstrate knowledge of the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, and historical trends in women’s and gender studies
  • Conduct and present interdisciplinary research in the area of women’s and gender studies in an effective manner
  •  Apply the principals and insights of women’s and gender studies to personal, social, and community issues
  • Think critically and analytically about current perspectives in women’s and gender studies

Requirements

In addition to the program requirements, students must

  • earn a minimum final cumulative GPA of 2.000
  • complete a minimum of 45 academic credit hours earned from UNC–Chapel Hill courses
  • take at least half of their major core requirements (courses and credit hours) at UNC–Chapel Hill
  • earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.000 in the major core requirements. Some programs may require higher standards for major or specific courses.

For more information, please consult the degree requirements section of the catalog.

Core Requirements
Four intellectual and theoretical foundations courses:
WGST 101IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies H3
WGST 202IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Feminist Thought3
WGST 695IDEAs in Action General Education logo Senior Seminar: Principles of Feminist Inquiry H3
or WGST 691H IDEAs in Action General Education logo Honors in Women's Studies
One course on minority/Third World/non-Western women or gender (see list below).3
Three interdisciplinary perspectives courses chosen from at least two of the three categories (see lists below).9
One course in the theory and practice of women’s and gender studies from the following options:3
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Internship in Women's and Gender Studies 1
A fourth course chosen from one of the three interdisciplinary perspectives categories
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Honors in Women's Studies 2
Total Hours24
H

Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply.

1

This faculty-supervised internship must be arranged in the semester prior to the semester of the internship (see Internship Guidelines on the departmental website).

2

For qualified students. This yearlong honors thesis must be arranged in the semester prior to the year of the thesis. Requires approval of the department and the instructor. See Honors Thesis Guidelines on the departmental website.

Students must also fulfill all General Education requirements.

Minority/Third World/Non-Western Women or Gender

AAAD/WGST 200IDEAs in Action General Education logo Gender and Sexuality in Africa3
AAAD/WGST 386Comparative Studies in Culture, Gender, and Global Forces3
AAAD 232/WGST 266IDEAs in Action General Education logo Black Women in America3
AAAD 388IDEAs in Action General Education logo Black Feminist Thought & the Speculative Imagination3
ANTH/WGST 277Gender and Culture3
ASIA/GEOG/WGST 447Gender, Space, and Place in the Middle East3
ASIA/HIST/WGST 537Women in the Middle East3
COMM/WGST 561IDEAs in Action General Education logo Performance of Women of Color H3
ENGL/WGST 665IDEAs in Action General Education logo Queer Latina/o Literature, Performance, and Visual Art3
ENGL/WGST 666IDEAs in Action General Education logo Queer Latina/o Photography and Literature3
HIST/WGST 280IDEAs in Action General Education logo Women and Gender in Latin American History3
HIST 385/WGST 382IDEAs in Action General Education logo African American Women's History3
HIST/WGST 576The Ethnohistory of Native American Women3
PLAN/WGST 662Gender Issues in Planning and Development3
SPAN/WGST 620Women in Hispanic Literature3
WGST 64IDEAs in Action General Education logo Plantation Lullabies: Literature by and about African American Women3
WGST 211IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Latina Feminisms: Literature, Theory, and Activism3
WGST 233IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Latina Literature3
WGST 281IDEAs in Action General Education logo Gender and Global Change3
WGST 285African American Women in the Media3
WGST/HIST 313IDEAs in Action General Education logo Women and the Law in Africa and the Middle East3
WGST 337IDEAs in Action General Education logo African Gender History3
WGST 350IDEAs in Action General Education logo Spitting in the Wind: "American" Women, Art, and Activism3
WGST 352IDEAs in Action General Education logo Rahtid Rebel Women: An Introduction to Caribbean Women3
WGST 368Women of Color in Contemporary United States Social Movements3
WGST 388IDEAs in Action General Education logo The International Politics of Sexual and Reproductive Health3
WGST 405Gender, Sexuality, Empire and Asian Pacific America 3
WGST 410IDEAs in Action General Education logo Comparative Queer Politics3
WGST 415Queer Theory and Religion3
WGST 465IDEAs in Action General Education logo Gender, (Im)migration, and Labor in Latina Literature3
WGST 553Theorizing Black Feminisms3
WGST 583Gender and Imperialism3
H

Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply.

Interdisciplinary Perspectives Courses–Historical Studies

AAAD 201IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to African Literature3
AAAD/WGST 200IDEAs in Action General Education logo Gender and Sexuality in Africa3
AMST/JWST/WGST 253IDEAs in Action General Education logo A Social History of Jewish Women in America3
ASIA/HIST/WGST 537Women in the Middle East3
CLAS/WGST 240IDEAs in Action General Education logo Women in Greek Art and Literature H3
CLAS/WGST 241IDEAs in Action General Education logo Women in Ancient Rome H3
CLAS/WGST 242Sex and Gender in Antiquity3
COMM/FOLK/HIST/WGST 562IDEAs in Action General Education logo Oral History and Performance H3
HIST/EURO/WGST 259IDEAs in Action General Education logo Towards Emancipation? Women in Modern Europe3
HIST/PWAD 354/WGST 353War and Gender in Movies H3
HIST/PWAD/WGST 517Gender, Military, and War 3
HIST 361/WGST 360Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Histories in the United States3
HIST/WGST 144IDEAs in Action General Education logo Women in United States History3
WGST/CMPL/KOR 237IDEAs in Action General Education logo Rebel, Lover, Martyr: Gender and Sexuality in North and South Korean Screen Cultures3
HIST/WGST 264Gender in Russian History3
WGST 272IDEAs in Action General Education logo Masculinities 3
HIST/WGST 280IDEAs in Action General Education logo Women and Gender in Latin American History3
HIST/WGST 375History of Gender in America3
HIST 385/WGST 382IDEAs in Action General Education logo African American Women's History3
HIST/WGST 479History of Female Sexualities 3
HIST/WGST 500Gender, Empire, and Nation3
HIST/WGST 568Women in the South3
HIST/WGST 576The Ethnohistory of Native American Women3
WGST 253IDEAs in Action General Education logo A Social History of Jewish Women in America3
WGST/HIST 313IDEAs in Action General Education logo Women and the Law in Africa and the Middle East3
WGST 330IDEAs in Action General Education logo Women's Health Activism in Twentieth Century America3
WGST 337IDEAs in Action General Education logo African Gender History3
WGST 360Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Histories in the United States3
WGST 370IDEAs in Action General Education logo Race, Sexuality, and Disability in the History of Western Christianity H3
WGST 382/HIST 385IDEAs in Action General Education logo African American Women's History3
WGST 560Women and Religion in United States History3
WGST 583Gender and Imperialism3
H

Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply.

Interdisciplinary Perspectives Courses–Humanities and Fine Arts

AAAD 388IDEAs in Action General Education logo Black Feminist Thought & the Speculative Imagination3
AMST/WGST 325IDEAs in Action General Education logo Encountering Art in the Unexpected: Borderlands and Story in Contemporary American Visual Art3
ANTH/LING/WGST 302IDEAs in Action General Education logo Language and Power3
ANTH/FOLK 537/WGST 438Gender and Performance: Constituting Identity3
ANTH/WGST 222IDEAs in Action General Education logo Prehistoric Art3
ARTH/WGST 254Women in the Visual Arts I3
ARTH/WGST 451Women in the Visual Arts II3
ASIA/CMPL/WGST 380IDEAs in Action General Education logo Almost Despicable Heroines in Japanese and Western Literature3
CMPL 374/WGST 373IDEAs in Action General Education logo Modern Women Writers3
COMM/WGST 224Introduction to Gender and Communication H3
COMM/WGST 345IDEAs in Action General Education logo Gender and Film3
COMM/WGST 524IDEAs in Action General Education logo Gender, Communication, and Culture3
COMM/WGST 561IDEAs in Action General Education logo Performance of Women of Color H3
ENGL/WGST 140IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Gay and Lesbian Culture and Literature3
ENGL/WGST 263Literature and Gender H3
ENGL/WGST 361IDEAs in Action General Education logo Asian American Women's Writing3
ENGL/WGST 363IDEAs in Action General Education logo Feminist Literary Theory H3
ENGL/WGST 374IDEAs in Action General Education logo Southern Women Writers3
ENGL/WGST 446IDEAs in Action General Education logo American Women Authors H3
ENGL/WGST 665IDEAs in Action General Education logo Queer Latina/o Literature, Performance, and Visual Art3
ENGL/WGST 666IDEAs in Action General Education logo Queer Latina/o Photography and Literature3
GERM/WGST 220Women in the Middle Ages3
GERM/CMPL/WGST 271Women, Gender and Sexuality in German Cinema3
MUSC/WGST 188IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Women and Music3
MUSC/WGST 248IDEAs in Action General Education logo Gender on the Musical Stage3
PHIL/WGST 275IDEAs in Action General Education logo Moral and Philosophical Issues of Gender in Society H3
PHIL/WGST 475Philosophical Issues in Gender, Race, and Class3
RELI/WGST 362IDEAs in Action General Education logo Mary in the Christian Tradition H3
RELI 665/WGST 664Body and Suffering in Christian Mysticism3
RUSS/WGST 486IDEAs in Action General Education logo Exploration of Russian "Women's Prose" and Svetlana Alexievich (Nobel Prize in Literature 2015)3
SPAN/WGST 620Women in Hispanic Literature3
WGST 64IDEAs in Action General Education logo Plantation Lullabies: Literature by and about African American Women3
WGST 66IDEAs in Action General Education logo First-Year Seminar: Growing Up Girl, Globally3
WGST 68IDEAs in Action General Education logo First-Year Seminar: Assumed Identities: Performance in Photography3
WGST/ASIA 127IDEAs in Action General Education logo Iranian Women Writers3
WGST 202IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Feminist Thought3
WGST 211IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Latina Feminisms: Literature, Theory, and Activism3
WGST 215IDEAs in Action General Education logo Gender and Spirituality3
WGST 230IDEAs in Action General Education logo Women in Contemporary Art: A Field Study3
WGST 231IDEAs in Action General Education logo Gender and Popular Culture3
WGST 232IDEAs in Action General Education logo Identity in Transit: Performing the Self through Photography3
WGST 233IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Latina Literature3
WGST 281IDEAs in Action General Education logo Gender and Global Change3
WGST 285African American Women in the Media3
WGST 315Sexuality and Salvation3
WGST/ASIA 329IDEAs in Action General Education logo Middle East Women Writers3
WGST 350IDEAs in Action General Education logo Spitting in the Wind: "American" Women, Art, and Activism3
WGST 352IDEAs in Action General Education logo Rahtid Rebel Women: An Introduction to Caribbean Women3
WGST 402Feminist Ways of Knowing3
WGST 405Gender, Sexuality, Empire and Asian Pacific America 3
WGST 415Queer Theory and Religion3
WGST 465IDEAs in Action General Education logo Gender, (Im)migration, and Labor in Latina Literature3
WGST/ASIA 471IDEAs in Action General Education logo Gender and Sexuality in Middle Eastern Literature3
WGST 555Women and Creativity3
H

Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply.

Interdisciplinary Perspectives Courses–Social Sciences

AAAD/WGST 200IDEAs in Action General Education logo Gender and Sexuality in Africa3
AAAD/WGST 386Comparative Studies in Culture, Gender, and Global Forces3
AAAD 232/WGST 266IDEAs in Action General Education logo Black Women in America3
ANTH/WGST 277Gender and Culture3
ANTH/WGST 278IDEAs in Action General Education logo Women in Science3
ANTH/WGST 441The Anthropology of Gender, Health, and Illness3
ANTH/WGST 443IDEAs in Action General Education logo Cultures and Politics of Reproduction3
ANTH/WGST 445IDEAs in Action General Education logo Migration and Health3
ANTH/WGST 458IDEAs in Action General Education logo Archaeology of Sex and Gender3
ANTH 442/WGST 440Health and Gender after Socialism3
ASIA/GEOG/WGST 447Gender, Space, and Place in the Middle East3
EXSS/WGST 260Women and Sport3
GEOG/WGST 225Space, Place, and Difference3
JWST/RELI 444/WGST 448Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Judaism3
MEJO/WGST 442Gender, Class, Race, and Mass Media3
PLAN 52/WGST 51IDEAs in Action General Education logo First-Year Seminar: Race, Sex, and Place in America3
PLAN/WGST 662Gender Issues in Planning and Development3
POLI/WGST 217IDEAs in Action General Education logo Women and Politics3
POLI/WGST 265IDEAs in Action General Education logo Feminism and Political Theory3
POLI/WGST 477Advanced Feminist Political Theory3
RELI/WGST 244IDEAs in Action General Education logo Gender and Sexuality in Western Christianity H3
RELI/WGST 371Women Mystics3
RELI/WGST 424IDEAs in Action General Education logo Gender Theory and the Study of Religion3
RELI/WGST 450IDEAs in Action General Education logo Sexuality in Jewish Tradition and History3
SOCI/WGST 124IDEAs in Action General Education logo Sex and Gender in Society3
SOCI/WGST 444Race, Class, and Gender3
WGST 111IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Sexuality Studies H3
WGST 270IDEAs in Action General Education logo Introduction to Transgender Studies3
WGST 340IDEAs in Action General Education logo Leadership in Violence Prevention3
WGST 368Women of Color in Contemporary United States Social Movements3
WGST 388IDEAs in Action General Education logo The International Politics of Sexual and Reproductive Health3
WGST 410IDEAs in Action General Education logo Comparative Queer Politics3
WGST/ASIA/RELI 482Sex, Gender, and Religion in South Asia3
WGST 553Theorizing Black Feminisms3
WGST 573IDEAs in Action General Education logo Psychology of Women and Gender3
WGST 695IDEAs in Action General Education logo Senior Seminar: Principles of Feminist Inquiry H3
H

Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply.

Special Opportunities in Women’s and Gender Studies

Honors in Women’s and Gender Studies

The honors program is designed to encourage independent thought and research among outstanding undergraduate majors in women’s and gender studies. Students must take the capstone WGST 695H and WGST 691H during the fall semester and WGST 692H (spring semester). Students must plan their project with a faculty advisor and secure permission from both the chair of the department and the faculty advisor. Guidelines and forms for the initial contract are available in the department’s office and on our website. Students interested in the honors thesis must have at least a 3.3 overall grade point average and a 3.5 or greater grade point average in courses taken for the major.

Internships (Fall Semester Only)

The Department of Women’s and Gender Studies Internship Program (WGST 393) allows students the opportunity to receive course credit while gaining practical experience in a variety of fields concerned with feminist issues. The internship has two components:

  1. work in a local agency
  2. a weekly class taught by a faculty member in the Department of Women's and Gender Studies.

For further information visit the department website.

Department of Women’s and Gender Studies

Visit Program Website

208 Smith Building, CB# 3135

(919) 962-3908

Chair

Ariana Vigil

avigil@email.unc.edu

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Karen Booth

kmbooth@email.unc.edu