UCSB Santa Barbara Department of History logo

Gender + Sexualities

An interdisciplinary research cluster under the auspices of the history department

About the Cluster

The study of gender, bodies and sexualities is central to a full appreciation of the past, whether one is studying political culture, work and leisure, religious ideologies, scientific practices, state formation, or war.  Our department has long been a recognized leader of gender history in a variety of temporal and geographic fields: medieval and modern Europe, colonial North America and modern US, Africa, the Middle East, East Asia, and South Asia.  Many of us work on topics that transcend national boundaries by integrating gender and sexuality into studies of imperialism, decolonization, borderlands, and international trade.  Our research methods are as diverse as the topics we study.  We approach the history of sex, gender, and sexuality as scholars of the emotions and the senses, of political economy and business, of material culture, consumption, and food practices, of cities and the built environment, and of childhood and the family. 

Some of our activities include:

  • We host a regular Gender + Sexualities History Workshop series in which faculty, graduate students and guests share in-progress articles and chapters, and discuss current issues in feminist pedagogy and politics. Graduate students can earn credit for this through HIST 295 GS. 
  • We host guest speakers, conferences, and symposia.
  • We partner with the Department of Feminist Studies and other affiliated scholars.
  • We host an annual graduate student retreat each June where graduate students from across campus discuss their work with faculty and peers separate from those on their doctoral committees.

Goals and Future Directions

  • Reconsider the undergraduate and graduate curricula in light of the changing nature of the field.
  • Develop new areas of departmental expertise, especially in relation to sex and sexuality. 
  • Develop greater ties to the local community.

People in the Cluster

Faculty and Lecturers:

Emeriti:

Affiliated Faculty:

Current Graduate Students:

Alumni/ae

  • Justin Bengry (Honorary Research Fellow, Birkbeck College, University of London, Founder and Managing Editor of Notches: (Re)marks on the History of Sexuality)
  • Megan Bowman (Lecturer, Georgia State University)
  • Joshua Birk (Assistant Professor, Smith College)
  • Sarah Case (Managing Editor, The Public Historian, Lecturer University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Sandra T. Dawson (Lecturer, Northern Illinois University)
  • April Haynes (Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin)
  • Carolyn Herbst Lewis (Assistant Professor, Grinnell College)
  • Betsy Homsher (Vice President, Student Affairs, Kettering University)
  • Nancy McLaughlin (Associate Professor, UC Irvine)
  • Elizabeth Pryor (Assistant Professor, Smith College)
  • Nancy Stockdale (Associate Professor, University of North Texas)
  • Danielle Swiontek (Department Chair, Santa Barbara City College)
  • Bianca Murillo (Assistant Professor, Willamette University)
  • Laura Nenzi (Associate Professor, University of Tenn. at Knoxville)
  • Nicole Pacino  (Assistant Professor, University of Alabama, Huntsville)
  • Anne Rapp (Associate Professor, Lewis University, Chicago)
  • Katrin Sjursen (Assistant Professor, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville)
  • Tanya Stabler (Assistant Professor, Loyola University, Chicago)
  • Matthew Sutton (Professor, Washington State University)
  • Sarah Watkins (Visiting Assistant Professor, Colby College)
  • Corinne Wieben (Assistant Professor, University of Northern Colorado)
  • Angela Woollacott (Manning Clark Professor of History, Australian National University)
  • Leandra Zarnow (Assistant Professor, University of Houston)

News & Events

Research Cluster News

Links