“Abolitionist Archives, Feminist Futures” by professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies Kathi Weeks will be released on March 24, 2026, by Duke University Press. What if feminism aimed not just to reform broken systems, but to abolish them? In her new book, “Abolitionist Archives, Feminist Futures,” Kathi Weeks invites readers to think about the future by looking into three feminist texts from the past. The professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist… read more about Kathi Weeks’ New Book “Abolitionist Archives, Feminist Futures” Rethinks Feminism at the Root »
Food is many things to many people: comfort, memories, gathering, tradition. While conversations about food often turn toward nostalgia, waxing on about local, organic, from‑scratch foods, just like our great‑great‑grandparents used to eat. Gabriel Rosenberg, associate professor of Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies wants us to slow things down and ask a different question. In “Feed the People! Why Industrial Food Is Good and How to Make It Even Better,” available for purchase February 17,… read more about Why Industrial Food Is Good, Actually »
The last of three prompts on the Spring 2026 GSF 299S: Feminist Theory take-home midterm asked students: "You must explain feminist theory in a down-to-earth, non-alienating way to a family member over a meal or coffee/tea. How would you do it in 300 words? Your answer should be informed by class material from Weeks 1-5 but do not use author names, quotes, jargon, or references. Use your own words" These are some of their responses, which are presented here with student permission. 1. Alexandra… read more about GSF 299S: Feminist Theory Students Submit Creative Midterms »
In a recent interview with AgDaily, GSF professor Dr. Gabriel N. Rosenberg discussed his new co-authored book, Feed the People!: Why Industrial Food is Good and How to Make it Even Better. Rosenberg challenges a common misconception that “industrial” automatically means harmful means and ends and argues instead that large-scale food production has made food more abundant, affordable, and accessible than ever before. Rosenberg explains that while many critics blame industrial agriculture for issues like… read more about Dr. Rosenberg Interviewed About New Book, Feed the People, by AgDaily »
GSF professor, Dr. Anna Storti recently published an op-ed in the Mississippi Free Press titled, “Racial Profiling by ICE Agents Mirrors Targeting of Japanese Americans During World War II.” The op-ed examines how today’s immigration enforcement mirrors one of the most shameful chapters in United States history: the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Storti argues that current immigration policy has increasingly relied on racial profiling, especially through ICE raids that have targeted… read more about GSF Professor Publishes Op-Ed in Mississippi Free Press »
Between the social media influencers extolling the benefits of local, organic and natural food, and the government’s new dietary guidelines commanding Americans to “eat real food,” ideally cooked from scratch, it’s easy to look at your beloved morning bagel with cream cheese and see only a minefield of ultraprocessing and refined carbs.But before you hurl that bagel into the trash, consider that it represents much that is good about our food system: It is affordable, convenient and nutritious. Virtually all the food we eat… read more about Gabriel Rosenberg: Ultraprocessed, Industrial Food Is Fine »
In this column, Gabriel Rosenberg argues that while Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s proposal for city-owned grocery stores is a worthy experiment, his broader economic policies—such as free buses and rent freezes—will ultimately do more to solve food insecurity by addressing the root cause of poverty rather than just food proximity. read more about What Everyone Gets Wrong About Mamdani’s Public Grocery Store Idea »
Shaundra Daily was recognized for her contributions to computing education, and Nicki Washington was recognized for contributions to broadening participation in computing. read more about Nicki Washington and Shaundra Daily Named Distinguished Members of Association for Computing Machinery »
Duke’s Trinity College of Arts & Sciences has invited its faculty to submit proposals for the creation of new research initiatives on campus.Following the successful launches of the SPACE Initiative and the Society-Centered AI Initiative, the Trinity Research Initiative will support new directions for interdisciplinary research through seed funding for nascent research collaborations, community-building, and complementary educational and outreach activities.Open to all areas of research and… read more about Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Invites Proposals for New Research Initiatives »
Colder weather means it’s time to curl up with a book. New readings from Duke authors include everything from a mystery and a middle-grade novel to books on privacy, hip-hop and fast fashion. Below is a roundup of some of the most recent and upcoming published titles. Many of the books, including new editions of previous titles, can be found on the “Duke Authors” display shelves near the circulation desk in Perkins Library. Some are available as e-books for quick download. Most can also be purchased through the… read more about Books for When There’s a Chill in the Air »
Across the far right, a paranoid prophecy has been taking hold: the belief that globalist elites want to take meat off the menu and replace it with insects. The charge has been spouted in one version or another by provocateurs like Tucker Carlson, Mike Cernovich, and Jordan Peterson, and repeated by countless accounts on social media.The claim has found its way into the sloganeering of major right-wing political parties around the world, from the Conservative Party of Canada to Lega in Italy, and the Law and Justice party… read more about Gabriel Rosenberg: The Myth of the Carnivore Caveman »
Dr. Kimberly Lamm has published a book devoted to the feminist avant-garde film Riddles of the Sphinx (1977) in the British Film Institute’s “Film Classics” series. Written and directed by Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen, Riddles of the Sphinx follows the life of Louise (played by Dinah Stabb), a white middle-class woman living in London in the 1970s. With a kaleidoscopic array of cinematic techniques and poetic devices, the film charts Louise’s process of slowly rewriting her place within white… read more about GSF Professor Kimberly Lamm Publishes New Book, "Riddles of the Sphinx" »
The following is a partial list of national, university, school and departmental awards presented to the members of the Class of 2025. In some awards where there are multiple winners, only members of the Class of 2025 are included. read more about Department Honors and Laurels for the Class of 2025 »
On Thursday, April 17, students from Duke’s course Climate, Culture and Identity held a screening for their documentary shorts focusing on how climate change has been impacting Durham and nearby communities. Led by Duke professors Saskia Cornes and Lauren Henschel, the class produced intellectually stimulating and inspirational documentary shorts. read more about Research Blog Highlights GSF Students' Climate Change Documentaries »
While March is celebrated as Women’s History Month, 2025 also marks a milestone: the 50th anniversary of the first United Nations World Conference on Women, held in June 1975 in Mexico City. The first in a series of four U.N. women’s conferences — which included Copenhagen in 1980, Nairobi in 1985 and Beijing in 1995 — the 1975 conference is considered by scholars to have been “a watershed moment.” Yet, few know about it. Professor of History Jocelyn Olcott wrote the book — or one of the books — on this landmark event… read more about Revisiting a Landmark in Global Feminism: Jocelyn Olcott Discusses the 50th Anniversary of the U.N. International Women’s Year Conference »
On October 24th, the Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies Department had the pleasure of hosting Marlon Ross, a professor of English at the University of Virginia, for the Queer Theory Lecture talk in honor of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. Ross’ talk, “Hysteria and Domestic Economy of Labor in Wright’s Native Son,” uses the acclaimed 1940 novel as a case study of the relationship between black gender ideology and hysteria. Hysteria is defined as the loss of bodily… read more about Queer Theory Lecture 2024 Recap »
An election year brings the return of a distinctive course merging media-making with the study of women in politics. In GSF 225S, Women and the Political Process, students get a hands-on approach to understanding how gender and politics interact, all while equipping them with skills in media production. Taught by Lauren Henschel and Rachel Gelfand, both instructors of Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies, and offered every two years, the course is especially relevant during election cycles, when… read more about Gender, Politics and the Magic of Media, All in a Single Classroom »
Kimberly Lamm received a competitive research leave from Trinity College to pursue her research project “Words and Clothes: Literary Self-Fashioning and the Gendered Legacies of Enslavement.” She also recently published “Andrea Bowers, the Army of Three, and the Writing of Reproductive Justice” in the collection Transnational Visual Activism for Women’s Reproductive Rights: My Body, My Choice. In this article, Lamm explores how the contemporary U.S.-based artist Andrea Bowers engages with the history of the Army of Three, a… read more about Kimberly Lamm publishes article “Andrea Bowers, the Army of Three, and the Writing of Reproductive Justice” »
"Eating less beef is a climate solution. Here's why that's hard for some American men" For decades, scientists, business owners, and athletes have been advocating for people to switch to meatless diets to reduce our carbon footprint. Yet, they struggle to overcome the cultural relationship between meat-eating and masculinity in the United States. Recently, vegetarian companies like Impossible Burger have tried to reclaim the idea of masculinity through pointed commercials. In a commercial premiered this year, the ad… read more about Gabriel Rosenberg quoted in NPR Climate Solutions Article on the Relationship between Masculinity and Meat-eating »
The Institute for Citizens & Scholars has named 20 new Career Enhancement Fellows for the 2024–25 academic year, including Assistant Professor of Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies Anna Storti and Assistant Professor of Music Sophia Enriquez.The Career Enhancement Fellowship, funded by the Mellon Foundation and administered by Citizens & Scholars, seeks to increase the presence of outstanding junior faculty committed to campus diversity and innovative research in the humanities and humanistic social sciences.… read more about Two Trinity Faculty Named 2024 Career Enhancement Fellows »
Abstract:Cultural depictions of Asian/white miscegenation have long been a source of fascination for scholars within Asian American and sexuality studies. Such a long-standing interest has not only provided key insights into the Orientalist structure of racialized sexuality, but it has also kept our sights set, perhaps too set, on deciphering the Asian woman both in the context of romance and as an object of desire. This essay recasts the narrative of Asian/white sexuality as one of minoritarian retribution, making the… read more about Anna Storti publishes “Racist Intimacies: or, The Femme Alter Ego and Her Retribution” »
"Obstetricians Are Always Taking a Position against Us": The Politics of Contemporary Midwifery and Childbirth in Palestine by Frances Hasso and Aisha Barghouti Saifi. Although until the late 1960s women’s reproductive health care had been largely the domain of Palestinian women healers, midwives, and nurse-midwives, the contemporary reproductive healthcare system in Palestine is medicalized, masculinized, and commodified in an indigenous society already suffering from the brutality of Israeli occupation. Based on… read more about Frances Hasso co-authors an article on The Politics of Contemporary Midwifery and Childbirth in Palestine »
To come home is a comfort that has always been deemed a fungible sensation yet, you’ll always know what home is once you’re there. It was fitting that this year’s Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute theme was Home considering the obvious countless hours and loving dedication the host Jennifer Nash, the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, and the presenting faculty, Adrienne Brown, Rebecca Carter, Naomi Extra, Crystal Feimster, Jasmine Johnson, D. Soyini Madison, Rececca Wanzo and Terrion… read more about Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute: A Graduate Student's Experience »
Mishana GarschiMishana earned a PhD in Black Studies from Northwestern University, with graduate certificates in Gender and Sexuality Studies and Critical Theory. Her interests include Black feminist theory, feminist theory, popular culture, and the politics of diversity and inclusion. As a postdoctoral fellow in Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies, she will be working on the department’s annual Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute.Soyi KimTrained in cultural studies and art history… read more about Meet our new Postdoctoral Fellows Mishana Garschi and Soyi Kim »
The war in Palestine has decimated an already burdened health care system and simultaneously increased the surgical medical need. In the current acute phase of conflict, this burgeoning set of surgical needs are focused on life-saving measures, such as trauma surgery for penetrating wounds, amputations of severe extremity injuries and wound management to prevent sepsis.Frances Hasso, Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies, History, and Sociology, is one of four team leaders in this Bass Connections Project,… read more about Meeting the Needs for Reconstructive Surgery in Palestine (2024-2025) »
“This book begins with my mother’s story. But if I am honest, the book is entirely about her, and the experience of losing her in slow motion.” Jennifer Nash, Jean Fox O'Barr Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies, has always written about personal experiences such as Black motherhood, Black feminism, intersectionality and pornography. But her new book, “How We Write Now: Living with Black Feminist Theory," feels different. It’s more visceral, raw. She writes with a different voice, one that bares her… read more about A New Voice on Loss »
The third annual edition of the Black Feminist Theory Institute is centered on the theme of “Home.” (Photo Courtesy of Duke Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies) What is “Home,” and how does it attend to Black Feminist interdisciplinary scholarship? That is the theme of the third annual Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute, which will be held from August 5 to August 9 at the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies (GSF).“Home” will be addressed through topics including… read more about Finding ‘Home’: Black Feminist Theory Summer Institute Navigates Identity and Belonging in Black Feminist Discourse »
Duke faculty members Nicki Washington and Shaundra Daily have been recognized by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for their efforts to make the national computing education system more equitable and to combat the unjust impacts of computing on society with the Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award. Washington, who is the Cue Family Professor of the Practice of Computer Science and Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies, and Daily, the Cue Family… read more about GSF Nicki Washington Receives Outstanding Educator Award »