Gender Studies at USC is an interdisciplinary program composed of faculty, students, and associated scholars who work together to examine the world through the lens of gender. We cross cultures, regions, periods, academic disciplines, and theories in order to study:

• the meaning of "male" and "female" as well as the actions of women and men.
• social roles and sexual identities in the contexts of race, class, and ethnicity.
• why and how gender has influenced who we are and what we do.

WHAT CAN A GENDER STUDIES DEGREE GET YOU?

• Into law school, graduate school, business school, med school
• A job in politics, policy, health services, sales, management
• A mind prepared for critical analysis and engagement in the world around you.
• An education.

Gender Studies at USC was founded more than thirty years ago as the program in the Study of Women and Men in Society. Like similar programs in American universities, ours had two inspirations: The Women's Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, which led to the creation of Women's Studies programs and feminist scholarship around the world; and the Gay Rights movement, which led to the development of Queer Studies programs, the study of queer theory, and LGBT organizations.

At USC Gender Studies, we are proud of our heritage of intellectual challenges to traditional curricula and to sexism in American society and culture. We operate on the assumption that people of all genders and sexualities should have equal rights and status at USC and everywhere in human societies. Our scholarly study of gender is only part of a larger feminist agenda aimed at promoting global justice and equality for all people.

We encourage you to

• consider a Gender Studies degree
• take a GS course
• attend an academic or arts event sponsored by GS or our sister institution, the Center for Feminist Research
• if you're a faculty member, join our Advisory Board or contact us about a joint appointment in Gender Studies