Dr. Ginger Williams is a well-known history professor at Winthrop University. She teaches Latin-American History and peace studies courses.
Beyond being a history professor, Williams is a part of many different involvements that Winthrop has to offer.
Williams is the Director of the Peace, Justice, and Conflict Resolution Program, which is offered as a minor. The Program was created to build a foundation of practical knowledge and theoretical understanding to build more peaceful societies.
Williams is also the Director of the Individualized Studies Program, designed for students who want to curate their own academic program built on untraditional interdisciplinary approaches.
In an interview, Dr. Williams discussed her journey and personal experiences at Winthrop.
When asked about her past education and work experience, Williams said, “I am originally from Jacksonville, in Florida. I had always been in Florida. I went to Florida State and received my PhD from there in 1993.”
She continued, “I started to work at Augusta College, now known as Augusta University, from 1996. I had stayed in Augusta because it was close to family and life at the time, but then I outgrew it with time.”
Williams moved on to discuss her admiration for Latin-American history.
“I had gone into college being a History major. I had always enjoyed it. I don’t remember when I started to enjoy it, but I really became passionate about it in college with learning about Latin-American History with the then-present fight against their dictatorship occurring while I was in school.”
Pivoting the conversation back to Winthrop, Williams discussed how she found her way here.
“I picked Winthrop University because of being so used to city life. I found Augusta so far from a city, the nearest one being Atlanta, and I wanted to be closer than two hours.”
She continued, “So when I found Winthrop, I found Rock Hill, and you cannot beat how close it is to Charlotte.”
This year will be Williams’ 29 year here at Winthrop.
Finally, Williams talked about the Individualized Studies Program.
“The program originally started in 2013, and it was not talked about much, nor brought to light much, until 2017. We started to form a campus-wide presence and really got ourselves out there, and it worked.”
Williams began directing the program in 2017 and is retiring from the role at the end of this academic year.
She continued, “The Program is built on helping students for what they want their degree in specifically. They can take classes from one major to another because of something they want to do as a career after college. This makes our school stand out in a way because it brings creativity, involving variety, and diversity of careers and studies.”
