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 »
The Gender, Sexuality, & Feminist Studies Graduate Scholars Colloquium, a student writers’ workshop and discussion series, provides a unique venue for graduate students to share and discuss works-in-progress with peers and faculty in the field. This year’s series, co-organized by Cole Adams (Literature) and Katherine Carithers (English), featured papers from a wide array of disciplines, and discussions provided presenters with feedback to hone their drafts as well as a space for intellectual exchange among Duke scholars… read more about GSF Graduate Scholars Colloquium 2023-24 Series was a Smashing Success! »
Dr. Kathy Rudy has been a member of GSF at Duke (formerly known as Women’s Studies) since the 1980s. A member of the first class of Duke Women’s Studies certificate students in 1989 and the first to receive tenure in the department in 1999, Rudy has taught a wide range of topics, from Reproductive Ethics to Gender and Popular Culture. Her early research focuses on these subjects, as well as religious ethics, sexuality, feminist theory, and most saliently, reimagining animal advocacy. In her 2011 publication, Loving… read more about Happy Retirement to Dr. Kathy Rudy »
GENDER, SEXUALITY & FEMINIST STUDIES FIRST MAJORS Lauren Elisabeth Elias Jennifer Lissette Gobaira (2nd Major in Theater Studies) Katie Rose Margolis Isabel Florence Siebrecht (1st Major in Global Health) GLOBAL GENDER STUDIES MAJOR Jessica Blumenthal (UNC dual Major) GENDER, SEXUALITY & FEMINIST STUDIES MINORS Tess Olivia Roesch DiMenna (Major… read more about Congratulations to our GSF 2024 Graduating Class! »
Isabel Siebrecht is a graduating senior with majors in Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies (GSF) and Global Health and has served as a Trinity Ambassador for GSF. Trinity Ambassadors are student volunteers, nominated by their departments, to serve in this unique and important role. We asked a few of the ambassadors from the Class of 2024 to share their favorite memories from Duke. The below interview has been slightly edited for clarity. What was one of the most impactful classes you took during your… read more about Class of 2024: Isabel Siebrecht »
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick was a bright and beloved academic star who helped bring “queer theory” into the world. Sedgwick’s thoroughly original work put Duke — where she was a professor from 1988 to 1997 — on the map of cutting-edge scholarship in the humanities. For Sedgwick, queer theory was much more than an academic field devoted to thinking about gay and lesbian sexualities. She made it into an imaginatively expansive, welcoming space where thinking itself can live and thrive and move — lovingly, erotically — across the… read more about Casting New Eyes Onto Queer Theory Through Eve Sedgwick’s White Glasses »
Dr. Storti's article “Living an Abolitionist Life” was published in Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies within a special issue on Asian American Abolition Feminism. “Living an Abolitionist Life” is at once a testimony to the everyday praxis of abolition feminism and a theoretical framework for understanding the abolitionist impulse characteristic of an anti-carceral Asian American feminist praxis. Using Sara Ahmed’s feminist scholarship as a guide, the author observes various shifts from the… read more about Anna Storti Published in Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies »