Program Faculty

Click on Program Faculty Names for profiles which offer more information on faculty research and teaching interests and publications. The Program Faculty members are available to advise and support students. The Women’s and Gender Studies faculty pride themselves on being able to relate real life issues to theoretical feminist concepts and abstract ideals.

•  Susan Leigh, M.F.A., Associate Professor, Interim Co-Director (2009-2010)
  Associate Vice President, Academic Resource Centers
  Theatre, Temple University
  Areas of Interest: Directing and Representation of Gender Onstage; British Feminist Theatre; Voice in the Theatre: Code Switching Onstage

• Tina Chanter, Ph.D., Professor, Philosophy, Interim Co-Director (2009-2010)
  Philosophy, State University of New York
  Areas of Interest: Julia Kristeva, Luce Irigaray, Film, Contemporary Continental Philosophy

• Beth Catlett, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Graduate Director
  Areas of Interest: Family Relations & Human Development, Ohio State University
  Areas of Interest: Diversity in Families; Violence in Intimate Relationships; Qualitative Research Methodologies; The Social Construction of Masculinities

• Natalie Bennett, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  Sociology, University of Michigan
  Areas of Interest: Black Immigrants; Intersections of Race-Ethnicity, Gender, and Sexuality; Women of Color in the U.S.; Qualitative Methodology; Caribbean Studies
  African Diaspora Studies

• Melissa Bradshaw, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  English, State University of New York-Stony Brook
  Areas of Interest: Feminist Theory; Queer Theory; Literary Theory; Cultural Studies; Modernist Studies; American Popular Culture; 20th Century Poetry

• Laila Farah, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  Communication, Southern Illinois University
  Areas of Interest: Cultural Identification and Oral Histories; Narrative Theory and Practice; Cultural Constructions, De-constructions, and Re-constructions; Gender and Identity; Performance as Political and Social Resistance

• Sandra Jackson, Ph.D., Professor
  Director, Center for Black Diaspora
  Educational Policy Planning and Analysis, University of California-Berkeley
  Areas of Interest: Feminist Theory, Cultural Studies, & Critical Race Theory; Race & Gender in Higher Education & Issues of Identity; Autobiography; Narrative and the Self

• Kate Kane, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor
  American Studies, University of Minnesota
  Areas of Interest: Queer Theory; Gender and Sexuality Based Community Formations; Coalition Politics; The Role of Identity Politics in Social Justice Movements; Transnational Sexualities; Representations of Race and Sexuality in Media
  

• Elizabeth Kelly, Ph.D., Professor
  Political Science, Rutgers University
  Areas of Interest: Feminist Theory; LBGT Politics; Critical Theory; Women and Politics; Queer Theory; Global Gender Issues; Democracy and Education

•  Ann Russo, Ph.D.,  Associate Professor
  Communication, University of Illinois-Urbana
  Areas of Interest: Women, Violence, and Justice; Anti-Racist and Critical Race Theories and Practices; Activism and Social Justice Movements; Critical Media Studies; Sexual Identities and Sexuality Debates

• Barbara Schaffer, M.A., Adjunct Faculty
  Director, Sexual Harassment Policy Office
  English and Teaching, Washington University
  Areas of Interest: Sexual Harassment; Gender Equity and Public Policy; Computer-mediated Communication