Recent News

Upper body shot of Ramon wearing a long white jacket with hands clasped in front of him and leaning against a shelf of books.

Ramon Johnson Publishes Book Review in Men and Masculinities

Congratulations to GWSS PhD student Ramon Johnson, whose book review of Dr. Saida Grundy’s "Respectable: Politics and Paradox in Making the Morehouse Man" was recently published in the journal Men and Masculinities (Vol. 28, Issue 2, June 2025).
Book cover of "From Forest Farm to Sawmill: Stories of Labor, Gender, and the Chinese State" by Shuxuan Zhou. The title appears in bold blue, black, and red text above a black-and-white illustration of workers—mostly women—lifting and loading a large log onto a truck in a mountainous, rural setting.

Shuxuan Zhou’s From Forest Farm to Sawmill Continues to Receive Acclaim

Shuxuan Zhou (Ph.D. 2017) has received continued recognition for her book From Forest Farm to Sawmill: Stories of Labor, Gender, and the Chinese State (University of Washington Press, 2024).
Headshot of Jey Saung

Jey Saung Joins Fairhaven College as Visiting Assistant Professor

GWSS congratulates Jey Saung, who graduated with their PhD in Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies this year. Jey has accepted a position as Visiting Assistant Professor at Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University for the 2025–26 academic year.
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Find UW alumni at art exhibits across Seattle (and beyond) this fall

Looking for galleries to visit this fall? Check out these visual arts shows by UW alumni. Featured on University of Washington Magazine
Akanksha Misra walking down a rural street, turning to face the camera over her shoulder.

Akanksha Misra Promoted to Associate Professor at SUNY Plattsburgh

Dr. Akanksha Misra (Ph.D. 2020) has been promoted to Associate Professor in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies at SUNY Plattsburgh. She earned her doctorate in Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies from the University of Washington, building on earlier degrees from Sabanci University in Turkey and Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University in India.
Cover of the book Navigating Academia as a Transnational Scholar from the Global South: Treasuring All the Knowledges. The title appears in white text on a black background, surrounded by a colorful abstract border of swirling blue, orange, pink, and red patterns. A turquoise banner at the bottom reads “Insider Guides to Success in Academia,” with the Routledge logo in the lower right corner.

Iris Viveros Avendaño and Elizabeth Ramirez Arreola Contribute to New Anthology on Transnational Scholarship

A new anthology co-edited by GWSS alum Iris Viveros Avendaño (PhD, 2023) features stories from early-career transnational scholars navigating Western academia through the lens of their experiences as adult immigrants and international students from the Global South.
Headshot of Shelley Pryde.

Shelley Pryde Publishes in Africa Is a Country

Shelley Pryde, a South African doctoral student in Feminist Studies, recently published a piece titled “Helen Zille’s transphobia” on Africa Is a Country, a widely respected platform known for its critical perspectives on social, political, and cultural issues affecting the African continent.
Banner for the GWSS Oral History website. A black background features “Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies” in bold block text at the center, with “University of Washington” above and “Oral Histories” below. Along the bottom are colorful images of people connected to the department.

Oral History Digital Archive Provides Living Record of Feminist Scholarship

In the spring of 2025, we launched a digital archive of our continuously growing GWSS Oral History Collection, a website designed by Sunaina Butler and Micaela Duran for their iSchool Capstone Project, with guidance from consultant Eileen Jerrett.
Sasha Su-Ling Welland and Amanda Swarr outside with trees in the background

Letter from the Chair

Dear Friends of GWSS,
Jey Saung with dissertation committee members Chandan Reddy, Sasha Su-Ling Welland, and Amanda Swarr.

Jey Saung Successfully Defends Dissertation on Queer Kinships and the Resident Alien

GWSS PhD candidate Jey Saung has successfully defended their dissertation, Alien Intimacies: Science Fiction, Queer Kinships, and the Asian Resident Alien.