News & Events

Dr. Tatsiana Shchurko has just published a chapter in Red Migrations: Transnational Mobility and Leftist Culture After 1917. This edited volume "sheds light on the ideals, aspirations, and disappointments of leftist transnationalism from the 1920s through the 1960s and the aesthetic forms they engendered," and Dr. Shchurko's chapter engages with creative speculation as a research methodology.

“Haunting Encounters: Reimagining Hermina Dumont Huiswoud's Trip to the Soviet Union, 1930-1933,” In Red Migrations: Transnational Mobility and Leftist Culture After 1917, edited by Bradley Gorski and Philip Gleissner. University of Toronto Press.

"The Gold Badge is displayed in online course sections that have met high-quality design standards based on the USF Innovative Education Digital Learning’s High-Quality Review process. A USF High-Quality Gold designation means an online course has met rigorous, research-based standards of course design and promotes additional opportunities for student engagement, real-world application, and diversity through content."

Dr. Wendland's online version of WST 3015 Intro to Women's Studies recently completed the USF Innovative Education Digital Learning’s High-Quality Review process with the highest quality (gold), and that this was one of the first classes to go through and complete this process under the new quality review process created to align with the statewide quality initiative set by the Florida Board of Governors 2025 SUS Strategic Plan for Online Education.

The Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies is hiring for and Assistant Professor of Instruction and an Assistant Professor, both positions to start in Fall, 2024. To view the postings, visit the links below.

• Assistant Professor of Instruction

Preferred qualifications include a specialization in one or more of the following areas with the ability to contribute to the undergraduate curricula: Latino/a Studies, Chicano/a Studies, Indigenous, Latinx Studies, Caribbean Studies, Latin American Studies, Global South Studies, De/Post-colonial Studies, Diaspora Studies, Disability Studies, Media/New Media Studies, and/or Popular Culture Studies.

• Assistant Professor

Preferred qualifications include an interest in and/or experience collaborating with health sciences scholars across other disciplines. In addition, we prefer candidates who are able teach core courses in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at undergraduate and/or graduate levels using multiple modalities, and to contribute to our Queer and Sexuality Studies minor.  

Shawn Mallory is the undergraduate advisor for the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and is a proud USF Bull. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Diversity Studies from the University of West Florida and a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of South Florida. Shawn has been Advising at USF since 2021, joining WGSS in Fall 2023 and his favorite part of being an Advisor is helping to bring out the great qualities within the students he is lucky enough to work with. Contact Shawn to learn more about undergraduate opportunities in WGSS.

The Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies is holding a fundraiser from now until December 2, 2023 to raise money for the new Marilyn Myerson Student Success Fund at USF. The Marilyn Myerson Student Success Fund will provide money to WGSS students to present their research at conferences and to cover the costs of research trips and expenses. This will ensure that all WGSS students have the opportunity to participate in professional and career development activities, network in their fields and pursue their research interests, regardless of their ability to pay.

No donation is too small to make an impact. To learn more and to donate, visit the Herdfunder page.

Help us spread the word by sharing the Herdfunder on your social media. You can download a social media graphic here.

The Spring 2023 WST 4110/Women & Social Justice class, taught by Dr. Michelle Hughes Miller, worked on a project to raise donations for menstrual products to combat period poverty. Students "raised enough funds to provide sanitary pads and menstrual products for 300 female students associated with EOF in Edo State, Nigeria... also collected tangible menstruation products to donate to a similar organisation in South Florida. In just two days, this group successfully executed a highly impactful donation drive." To learn more read the articles below:

American College Students Empower 300 Nigerian Girls With Sanitary Pads

Menstrual Hygiene: American College Students Rally Support for Nigerian Girls

Foundation advocates free menstrual products for girls

How Emmanuel Osemota Foundation is uniting women for safe menstrual practice

Read the story here: Spring CAS grads share student experience and look ahead to the future. 

WGS has established a new fund to benefit our students and we need your help to make it a success! To donate, visit the USF Foundation.

The Marilyn Myerson Student Success Fund will provide money to WGS students to attend and present at conferences, and for research trips and expenses. This will ensure that economic need doesn’t hinder WGS students from having opportunities to participate in professional and career development activities, network in their fields, and are able to pursue their research interests.

This fund honors the contributions of Dr. Marilyn Myerson to the Department of Women's & Gender Studies - she joined the department in 1973 when it was just one year old.

The Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of South Florida in Tampa invites applications for a full-time Visiting Assistant Professor of Instruction, to begin August 7, 2023. The teaching load for this position will be 4-4, but with no more than three preparations per semester. This position is open until filled, with review of completed applications beginning on April 10, 2023. 
 
The successful candidate will teach undergraduate courses in the WGSS core and elective curriculum. Information about our undergraduate courses can be found at Undergrad Program | WGS | USF. Our new Visiting Assistant Professor of Instruction will be part of a dedicated and collegial teaching community. This position is an instructional faculty position and involves no research and minimal service assignments. This is a visiting position with the possible extension for a second and/or third year.
 
To apply, please visit http://employment.usf.edu. Letters of recommendation should be sent to Jennifer Ellerman-Queen. Please be sure to include the position name in the subject line. 

The department recently hosted a 50th anniversary celebration event that brought together faculty, students, alumni, and other friends for an evening of honoring the past, embracing the present, and celebrating the future of WGS at USF.

The evening included an awards ceremony that honored faculty, students, and alumni.

• Feminist Founders Award: Dr. Marilyn Myerson and Dr. Juel Shannon Smith
• Alumni Award: Aurelie Colon Larrauri, Mia Lawrie, Jessica Pinto, and Vanessa Charles Solis
• Scholarship Award: Melissa Castro and Emily Hernandez

To read more, visit the HUB's recent article about the anniversary.

The Department of Women's & Gender Studies is proud to announce that it has been awarded an $8,100 Greater Good: Humanities in Academia grant from the Florida Humanities Council. This is the second year in a row that WGS has received this grant. The grant will go towards three community-engagement events in our Freedom in Creativity: Building Meaning and Bridging Difference Through the Humanities project, including a you-targeted writing workshop and two scholarly talks relating to Black feminisms and LGBTQ+ Pride.

The Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of South Florida in Tampa invites applications for a full-time Assistant Professor of Instruction, to begin August 7, 2023. The teaching load for this position will be 4-4, but with no more than three preparations per semester. This position is open until filled, with review of applications beginning on November 15, 2022.

The successful candidate will teach undergraduate courses in the WGS core and elective curriculum. Our new Assistant Professor of Instruction will be part of a dedicated and collegial teaching community. This position is an instructional faculty position and involves no research assignment. The service assignment will vary based on teaching load. The instructional track at USF is non-tenure earning, but provides a career path with promotions and continuing contracts.

To read more and to apply, visit the USF Careers site.

Beginning January 1, 2023, Dr. Tangela Serls will become the inaugural Special Advisor to the CAS Dean on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. As a member of the CAS Dean's leadership team, the Special Advisor to the CAS Dean on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, SADEI, will provide transformational leadership on matters related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the College, assess existing DEI efforts and, in collaboration with CAS leadership, faculty, staff, and students, provide recommendations on the development of new initiatives to advance the university and college's goals to promote and foster a diverse and inclusive community for learning and discovery. 

WGS is hosting an in-person exhibit of selected pieces from the online JAM Humanities art exhibition, Reproductive Justice is for Everyone! The exhibit is open from 10/24/22-1/27/23.

Artists include: Liza Brenner, Rose Briccetti, Danqi Cai, Jennifer Caputo Seidler, Sam Carwyn, Miranda Darling, Taylor Jackson, Rudi Jie-A-Fa, Baileigh Johnson, Yewande Kotun Davis, Angela Masker, Melissa Meade, Luca Molnar, Ashley Rivera, Jude Wolff Ackroyd, and Anna Yang.

WGS alum Aurelie Colon Larrauri gave the keynote address to the University of South Florida Hispanic Heritage Celebration SoL Awards Breakfast. Even more exciting, she received the Hispanic Service Award and the President's Coin. The icing on the cake? Ruth's List Broward bestowed the People's Advocate Award to her.

 

 

The Department of Women's & Gender Studies is hosting a conference on October 28, 2022. Living Feminisms will feature research that engages the histories, politics, and possibilities of living feminist lives. We are accepting submissions from all USF students and faculty, and welcome creative projects and papers or presentations on topics including but not limited to reproductive freedom, human rights, state violence, racial capitalism, transgender, queer, and intersectional activisms, indigenous decolonization, consumer beauty culture, feminist approaches to health and law, and related topics. The deadline for submissions is September 28, 2022. To apply, visit our Google application form. 

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Department of Women's & Gender Studies. We will be hosting celebration events throughout the fall and spring semesters, including a mini-conference, art exhibits, luncheon with keynote, anti-racism workshops, and more. To view some of the upcoming events, visit our 50th Anniversary page. 

To read about recent WGS news, visit our newsletters page.

If you missed our recent events with Kalki Subramaniam, Roc and Dr. Katrina Karkazis, and Dr. Marquis Bey, you can view recordings on Youtube.

• From the Olympics to Personal Fitness: Decolonizing Sport with Dr. Katrina Karkazis & Roc
• Meditations on Blackness and Gender Nonnormativity A Lecture and Conversation with Dr. Marquis Bey
• The Power of Art in Social Change: Conversation with Kalki Subramaniam

"The Power of Art in Social Change" is a lecture with a poetic performance and presentation by Kalki Subramaniam, a celebrated transgender artist and activist from India. Kalki will speak about how, as an artivist, she has broken stereotypes and continues to establishing social acceptance in India by encouraging transgender persons to get involved in activism through art and performances. This event is part of the Visibility & Remembrance art exhibit.

This talk is co-sponsored by WGS and the USF Department of Sociology, USF School of Art and Art History, and USF Office of Multicultural Affairs. 

“Re-Imagining the Humanities: Cultivating Attitudes of Anti-Racism and Allyship,” is a continuation of our WGS Anti-Racism Series and will consist of community talks firmly rooted in the humanities – namely, literature, history, gender studies, law, and critical race/area/ethnic studies. At the heart of this initiative is the belief that we can better understand universal themes (e.g., belonging, power, survival, resistance, courage, etc.) in local contexts by engaging with and discussing marginalized people’s stories. Our program serves as a community resource and is an exemplar of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. The following talks are part of this series:

• From the Olympics to Personal Fitness: A Conversation on Decolonizing Sports with Dr. Katrina Karkazis and Roc
• Meditations on Blackness and Gender Nonnormativity: A Lecture and Conversation with Professor Marquis Bey
• Solidarity is a Verb: SWANA Liberation, Gender Rights, and Refugee Experiences

This art exhibit is a joint project of the USF Department of Women's & Gender Studies and the USF Women's & Gender Studies Alumni Group. Visit the exhibit page for more information.

To read about recent WGS news, visit our newsletters page.

The group will give WGS alumni a way to remain part of a feminist community after graduation, and to participate in activism and networking. More information can be found on the WGS Alumni Group page. 

The special issue is on intersex and trans* studies. For more information visit the TSQ website.

During the fall and spring semesters, WGS will host virtual events revolving around the concept of anti-racism. Keith Woods, Chief Diversity Officer at NPR, will kick off the series on October 23rd, with the workshop: Difficult Dialogues about Race.

For more information visit the WGS Anti-Racism Speaker Series page.

WGS has issued a statement of support of the #USFSurvivors movement and has delivered this message, signed by USF faculty, staff, and students, to USF President Steven Currall. 

The statement is available here.

WGS and the Southeastern Women's Studies Association regret to announce that the SEWSA 2020 annual conference has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference had record registration and an exciting array of speakers and events. Click here to view the conference program.

Art Exhibit: The Founding Mothers: Women in Herstory 
March 6, 2020 - May 8, 2020
Hours: 1-5pm daily
CMC 202

The opening reception for this exhibit has been cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns.

WGS is pleased to present an exhibit of artwork on loan from the Museum of Motherhood.

About the exhibit: This exhibit brings together feminists throughout herstory who have challenged conventional attitudes about gendered performance and motherhood through their writing, activism, and art. This multi-media interactive exhibit encourages us to think critically about evolving family narratives and womyn's place in society. Join us in discovering the dynamic impact mother studies can have on your life, perspective, and the future.

Curator of The Founding Mothers: Martha Joy Rose is a scholar, artist, and activist. She founded the MaMaPaLooZa music festival while touring with her band Housewives On Prozac and began work on the Museum of Motherhood (MOM) in 2003. She has been organizing the international Academic MOM Conference since (2005), editing the Journal of Mother Studies, and in 2009 she was received the Susan B. Anthony Award from NOW-NYC. She holds an advanced degree in Mother Studies from CUNY, teaches Sociology of Family at the university level, curates exhibits including the "Ima Iyla'a: Art of Motherhood" as part of the 2015 Jerusalem Biennale, the AEHK Artist Tour 2017-2019 in St. Petersburg, Florida, and  M.A.M.A. Mothers Are Making Art in collaboration with Procreate Project and The Mom Egg, online. The Museum of Motherhood is currently located in the MOM Art Annex in St. Petersburg, Florida. Rose's publications include contributions to New Maternalisms (Demeter Press 2016), co-editing of the Music of Motherhood (Demeter Press, 2018), and contributing to The Routledge Companion to Motherhood Studies (2019). More info at MarthaJoyRose.com or MOMmuseum.org

Due to community interest, the WGS art exhibit, Reproductive Justice is for Everyone!, has been extended for another month and will end on March 5, 2020.

For more infomation, visit the exhibit webpage.

Click here to read recent news from the department.

WGS is the host of the 2020 Southeastern Women's Studies Association Conference, which will take place March 26-28, 2020 on the St. Petersburg campus of USF.

Volunteers are needed to help with various tasks during the conference, including registration, session and workshop assistance, and panel moderation. If you are interested in volunteering during SEWSA, please fill out this form. 

On October 1, 2019, WGS is hosting a Careers and Alumni Panel from 4:30pm-6:30pm in Teco Hall (DAC 103) in the Education Building. 

WGS alumni will talk about their careers and share their knowledge about how to use a WGS degree to get the job you want. A representative from Career Services will also be present and will present practical information about networking and applying for jobs. 

The event will include a Q&A with audience questions, and a reception with light refreshments. If you are interested in WGS and would like to know more about career prospects, or if you are currently a WGS student and want some advice on using your degree to get a job, come to the panel!

If you would like to attend but require a reasonable accommodation to participate, please contact Jennifer Ellerman-Queen at 813-974-5520 at least five (5) working days prior to the event.

Beginning this fall, Dr. Tangela Serls will be living on campus in a 2-bedroom apartment in a dorm, where she will be able to mentor and interact with students closely.

Beginning this fall, WGS welcomes two new visiting faculty.

Dr. Helis Sikk has joined us for three years as a Visiting Assistant Professor. Dr. Sikk has most recently been teaching WGS at DePauw University in Indiana, and before that held positions at the College of Wooster, William and Mary, and the Smithsonian. Her area of expertise focuses on anti-LGBTQ violence, anti-violence activism, and the politics of representation. She is teaching Intro to WGS and Feminist Research Methods for us this year and we’re looking forward to her teaching a course on Queer Comics before long.

Dr. Melinda Mills has joined us this fall as a one-year Visiting Instructor. Dr. Mills has been the Coordinator of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Castleton University in Vermont. Her recent book, The Borders of Race: Patrolling “Multiracial” Identities, was published in 2017, and her current work focuses on multiracial people in interracial relationships. She is teaching Introduction to WGS and Issues in Feminism this fall, and will be doing History of Feminism and Classics of Feminist Theory in the Spring.

Click here to read the latest news from the department for the spring semester.

WGS is sponsoring a free film screening of the documentary I Am Evidence, which examines the rape-kit backlog in the U.S. and looks for solutions to the problem. The film will be followed by a Q&A with Dr. Rachael Power (USF Criminology), Jessica Pinto (Crisis Center of Tampa Bay), and Melissa Suddeth (Florida Department of Law Enforcement); moderator will be Dr. Michelle Hughes Miller (USF Women's and Gender Studies). 

The film will be shown in the Oval Theater of the USF Marshall Center. Doors open at 6:15pm and the film begins at 6:30pm. Click here for more information.

WGS is having an Open House event on April 3rd from 11am – 2pm. If you’re free, please stop by! We’re going to have food (falafel, veggies, cheeses, desserts) and there will also be an art exhibit of Dr. Gary Lemons’ work (USF English/WGS affiliate faculty). Click here for more information.