Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

History of the Program

The Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro is one of the oldest of the 612 programs across the country. UNCG began its institutional life as a college for women in 1891–the first state sponsored school for the higher education of women in North Carolina. It became coeducational in 1963 when laws were amended to authorize admission of both men and women at all levels of instruction on all North Carolina State University campuses. Renamed the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the campus became a doctoral degree granting institution and today has more than 18,600 students and 2,500 faculty and staff. UNCG is the largest state university in the Piedmont Triad and has an annual economic impact of more than $1 billion. The campus has grown to include 24 residence halls and 30 academic buildings on 210 acres.

Since 1972, the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies faculty has been dedicated to continuing UNCG’s historical concern with the lives of women and with the roles they play in society. The Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program now offers an undergraduate major and minor, a graduate certificate, and an MA degree. The program encompasses more than 30 courses with a part-time director, an associate professor, an assistant professor, 35 cross-appointed faculty, and over 75 faculty affiliates from 17 departments. Faculty members affiliated with the program are housed in departments and professional schools throughout the university, making Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies the most well-established interdisciplinary program in the university.

With UNCG’s history as a school for the higher education of North Carolina women, its community support from alumna of the Woman’s College, its racially and culturally diverse student body, and its energetic faculty, the university offers an ideal environment for Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies.