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People

Administrators and Staff

  • Elizabeth Gregory, Director, egregory@uh.edu
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      Professor Elizabeth Gregory
      Education
      Selected Publications

      Phone: 713.743.0932
      Email: egregory@uh.edu
      Office: 624 Agnes Arnold Hall 

      Elizabeth Gregory, Taylor Professor of Gender & Sexuality Studies and Professor of English, directs the WGSS Program and the UH Institute for Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality. She writes on Marianne Moore’s poetry and women’s work and fertility.

      Her 2021 book, “Apparition of Splendor: Marianne Moore Performing Democracy through Celebrity, 1952-1970,” argues for the brilliance and populist panache of the poems of Moore’s late phase, long ignored by critics. “AOS” offers in-depth readings of these multi-layered poems and of Moore’s daring and innovative use of her late-life celebrity to activate long-held egalitarian principles. Cross-dressed as George Washington in cape and tricorne and writing about accessible topics like sports, TV, holidays, love, activism, mortality and celebrity, Moore reached a wide cross-section of Americans, engaging them in consideration of what democracy meant in their daily lives, around issues of gender/ race/ sexuality/ high-low dynamics/ immigration/ aging/ and more.

      Gregory's book “Ready: Why Women Are Embracing the New Later Motherhood” (2012/2007, Basic Books), based on in-depth interviews with 100+ new later moms and extensive collateral research, shatters the myths surrounding later motherhood. Her more recent work in this realm explores the effect of an expanded school schedule on women’s workforce participation and how to build a culture and economy of care.

      Since 1994, Professor Gregory has been the Director of what is now the Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program. As Director, she has expanded the program and, along with the Friends of Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies, developed the early phase of what is now the Carey C. Shuart Women's Archive and Research Collection in UH Special Collections, which collects the papers and oral histories of Houston area women's organizations and women who have made history in Houston. The Friends of Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies sponsor the Table Talk Luncheon, the Barbara Karkabi Living Archives Interview Series, and the Fast Friends Speed Networking socials. Click for more on the IRWGS, founded in 2019.

      Education

      • Ph.D. Yale University
      • M.A. University of Kentucky
      • B.A. Barnard College

      Selected Publications

      Books

      • Apparition of Splendor: Marianne Moore Performing Democracy through Celebrity , 1952-1970 (U Delaware Press, 2021).
      • Editor, Marianne Moore’s 1960-1969 Poetry Notebook , Transcription and Edition, Marianne Moore Digital Archive (forthcoming, www.moorearchive.org, 2022).
      • Co-Editor, with Stacy Carson Hubbard,  21st-Century Marianne Moore: Essays from a Critical Renaissance  (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017).
      • Ready: Why Women Are Embracing the New Later Motherhood (New York: Basic Books, December 2007; paperback edition with a new Preface, including updated data documenting the recession effect and expanded analysis of the trend, August 2012).
      • Quotation and Modern American Poetry: "'Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads'" (Houston: Texas A&M UP/ Rice UP, 1996).
      • Editor, The Critical Response to Marianne Moore (New York: Praeger, 2003).

      Selected Essays

      • “Late Onset Motherhood: Many Stories, One Radical Plot Change,” in Tick Tock: Essays on Becoming a Parent After 40, ed. Nan Bauer-Maglin and Vicki Breitbart (Dottir Press, 2021).
      • Pandemic Gender Snapshots: Series, 1-11 (2020-22) published to date. Houston/Harris County Covid-19 Fatalities by Gender, Race/Ethnicity & Age.
      • Houston/Harris County Gender & Sexuality Data Reports: 2020, 2021 (with Audrey Miller and Claire Chi-Hung Kang).
      • “Is Andy Warhol Marianne Moore?: Celebrity, Celibacy and Subversion.” Twenty-First Century Marianne Moore (Palgrave: 2017): 237-251.
      • Marianne Moore’s ‘Blue Bug’: A Dialogic Ode on Celebrity, Race, Gender and Age,” Modernism/Modernity 22.4 (November 2015): 759-786.
      • "'Still Leafing': Celebrity, Confession, Marianne Moore’s 'The Camperdown Elm,' and the Scandal of Age," Journal of Modern Literature 35.3 (Spring 2012), 51-76.
      • "The Economics and Politics of Delayed Birth Timing," Journal of the Motherhood Initiative 3.1 Mothers and the Economy: The Economics of Motherhood (Spring/Summer 2012), 80-95
      • "Confessing the Body: Sexton, Plath, Lowell, Ginsberg and Berryman," in Modern Confessional Writing: New Critical Essays ed. Jo Gill (New York: Routledge, 2005), pp. 33-49.
      • "'Combat Cultural': Marianne Moore and the Mixed-Brow," in Critics and Poets on Marianne Moore: A Right Good Salvo of Barks, ed. Linda Leavell, Cristanne Miller and Robin Schulze (Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 2005), pp. 208-21.
      • "Unravelling Penelope: The Construction of the Faithful Wife in Homer’s Heroines", Helios 23, no. 1 (1996): 3-20.

  • Dina Alsowayel, Associate Director, dalsoway@central.uh.edu
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      Dr. Dina Alsowayel

      Dina Alsowayel is Associate Director of Women’s Studies at the University of Houston in Texas. She joined the University in 1998 as a post-doctoral fellow in Religious Studies. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. from Rice University in Political Science and her J.D. from University of Houston. Her B.A. is from Wellesley College. Alsowayel teaches a variety of courses in the History department, these include history of the Modern Middle East, State and Society in the Middle East, Women and Islam, A History of Islam, War in the Middle East and a History of the Palestine-Israeli Conflict. She also takes students to the Arab and Muslim world annually.

  • Guillermo De Los Reyes, Associate Director GLBT Studies,  jdelosreyes@uh.edu
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      Dr. Guillermo De Los ReyesDr. Guillermo De Los Reyes is an Associate Professor of Latin American Cultures and Literatures and Director of Undergraduate Studies. He also serves as Associate Director of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and he is a Faculty-in-Residence since 2011. He holds a Ph.D. and a M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania (2004, 1999) and a M.A. and B.A. from the Universidad de las Américas-Puebla (1997, 1994). Dr. De Los Reyes’ research interests are: Colonial Mesoamerica; gender, sexuality, and queer theory; Latin American cultural studies; secret and fraternal societies; and policy studies.

      Dr. De Los Reyes is the author of Herencias Secretas: Masonería, política y sociedad en México (2009: Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla) and is currently working on a book-length project entitled: “El pecado nefando:” Rethinking Gender and Sexuality in Colonial Mexico.

      More Information click here

  • Rachel Afi Quinn, Associate Professor, raquinn@uh.edu
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      Rachel Afi Quinn

      Rachel Afi Quinn received her Ph.D. from the Program in American Culture at the University of Michigan in 2012. Her scholarship focuses on race, mixed race identities, gender, and sexuality in the African Diaspora and she employs tools of transnational feminist theory, including ethnography and visual culture in her research. Her first book, "Being La Dominicana: Race and Identity in the Visual Culture of Santo Domingo," is an interdisciplinary cultural studies project that explores the impact of neoliberal development and U.S. popular media on Dominican women's identities. 

      For more information, click here.

  • Sara Rehman, M.A., Program Director,  srehman7@uh.edu
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      Sara Rehman

      Sara Rehman is the Program Director of the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies program and Institute on Research for Women, Gender and Sexuality at the University of Houston. Sara recently received her M.A. in Multicultural Women and Gender Studies from Texas Woman’s University where she focused on women of color literature, theories and praxis. She also received her B.A. from the WGSS program here at the University of Houston. Sara plans to pursue her Ph.D. in women and gender studies, with her disciplinary and academic interests being in Anzalduan theory, women of color theories, and womanist spiritual activism, and aspires to teach and write in women and gender studies.

  • Zach Hough, Researcher, Institute for Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality, zwhough@cougarnet.uh.edu
  • Itzel Martinez, Researcher, Institute for Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality, iamarti6@central.uh.edu
  • Annamaria Milazzo, Research Asst. Professor, Institute for Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality,  amilazzo@Central.UH.EDU
  • Trina Silva, Director of Development, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences,  tmsilva3@uh.edu
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      Trina SilvaTrina Silva is director of development for the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. She holds a Master of Arts in humanities from the University of Houston-Clear Lake and a Bachelor of Arts in journalism-public relations from Sam Houston State University. She has extensive background in corporate sales, community engagement, event coordination and volunteer management.


  • Bobbie Sue Schindler, Academic Advisor, bschindl@central.uh.edu
  • Leanne Prendergast, Graduate Office Assistant, wgss@uh.edu 

Lecturers

FALL 2023 + Spring 2024:

  • Introduction to Women's Studies
    • Anneliese Bustillo, M.A.
    • Bridget Fernandes, Ph.D.
    • Devan Ford-McCartney, Ph.D.
    • Meera Jagannathan, Ph.D.
    • Itzel Martinez, M.Ed.
    • Grete Norquist, M.A.
    • Andrew Pegoda, Ph.D.
    • Brittany Slatton, Ph.D.
  • Introduction to LGBT Studies 
    • Trevor Boffone, Ph.D.
    • Dr. Andrew Pegoda, Ph.D.
    • Liam Stone, ABD
  • Selected Topics in Women's Studies
    • Shraddha Chatterjee, Ph.D.

Faculty Affiliates

Architecture & Design

Marta Rodriguez
713.743.1862 | martar@uh.edu

Art and Art History

Beckham Dossett
713.743.3006 | bdossett@uh.edu

Natilee Harren
713.743.0508 | noharren@central.uh.edu

Sandra Zalman
713.743.3218 | Szalman@uh.edu

Biology and Biochemistry

Dan Graur
713.743.2936 | dgraur@uh.edu

Richard Meisel
713.743.3607 | rpmeisel@uh.edu

Communication

Beth Olson
713.743.2881 | bolson@uh.edu 

Courses: Gender and Media

Jennifer E. Vardeman
713.743.4294 | jvardeman@uh.edu

Comparative Cultural Studies

Keith McNeal
713.743.3802 | kemcneal@uh.edu

Susan Rasmussen
713.743.3787 | srasmussen@uh.edu


Debarati Sen
713.743.3987 | dsen2@central.uh.edu

Economics

Chinhui Juhn
713.743.3823 | cjuhn@uh.edu
Courses: Economics of Gender, Economics of Education

Education - Counselling Psychology

Nathan Smith
713.743.7648 |  ngsmith@uh.edu

Education - Educational Leadership & Policy Studies

Ruth M. López
713.743.9124 | rmlopez3@uh.edu

English

Hosam Aboul-Ela
713.743.3012 | haboul-ela@uh.edu
Course: Postcolonial Lit

Margot Gayle Backus
713.743.2970 | mbackus@uh.edu
Courses: Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Irish Culture; The British Women's Novel; Queer Closures: The Sexual Politics of Literary Form

Ann Christensen
713.743.2964 | achrist@uh.edu

Courses: Family, Sex, & Households on the Shakespearean Stage; Gender and Performance in Shakespeare; Labor, Leisure, & Gender in Early Modern Drama

Amanda Ellis
713.743.7413 | avellis@central.uh.edu 
 
Course: Women Writers

Karen Fang
713.743.2949 | kfang@uh.edu

Courses: Romantic Women Writers and Film Noir

María Gonzalez
713.743.2938 | mgonzalez@uh.edu

Courses: Women in Literature, Women Writers, Feminist Theory; Feminist Criticism

Elizabeth Gregory
713.743.0932 | egregory@uh.edu 

Courses: Feminist Theory, Gender & Work, Women Writers, Modern Motherhood; Moore Later

Haylee Harrell
hcharrel@central.uh.edu

Auritro Majumder
713.743.5873 | amajumder@uh.edu
Course: Postcolonial Lit

Nathan Shepley
713.743.1573 | nshepley@uh.edu
Courses: Gender & Writing

Kavita Singh
kasingh@central.uh.edu
Courses: Caribbean Lit, Postcolonial Lit

Michael Snediker
713.743.3004 | msnediker@uh.edu

Lorraine Stock
713.743.2958 |  lstock@uh.edu

Courses: Writing Medieval Women; Medieval Women in History, Text, and Film

Roberto Tejada
713.743.5847 | rjtejada@uh.edu

Lynn Voskuil
713.743.2979 | lvoskuil@uh.edu

Course: Feminist Theory & Methodology

Jennifer Wingard
713.743.2975 | jlwingard@uh.edu

Course: Feminist Theory & Methodology

Health and Human Performance

Daphne Hernandez
713.743.9056 | dhernandez26@uh.edu

Demetrius Pearson
713.743.9849 | dpearson@uh.edu 

Courses: Sport in Contemporary Society

Hispanic Studies

Mabel Cuesta
mcuesta@uh.edu 

Guillermo De Los Reyes
713.743.3716 | jdelosreyes@uh.edu
Courses: Gender & Sexuality in Colonial Mexico; Gay/Lesbian Literature in Latin America

Maria Elena Soliño
713.743.3052 | mesolino@uh.edu

Courses: Hispanic Authors and Feminist Theory

Gabriela Baeza Ventura
713.743.3259 | gbventura@uh.edu

History

Dina Alsowayel
713.743.3732 |  dalsoway@central.uh.edu
Courses: Women and Society in the Middle East

Adela Cedillo
acedill6@central.uh.edu 

Tshepo Masango Chéry
713.743.0507 | tmchery@central.uh.edu
Courses: Love & African Revolution

Xiaoping Cong
713.743.3096 | xcong@uh.edu
Courses: History of Women in Modern China; East and SE Asian Women in Historical and Cross-cultural Perspectives

Sarah Fishman
713.743.3098 | sfishman@uh.edu 

Courses: Work and Family Life in Modern Europe; Social History of Modern France and Germany

Norah L.A. Gharala
713.743.3943 | nlgharala@uh.edu

Gerald Horne
713.743.3114 | ghorne@uh.edu 

Courses: Civil Rights Movement

Kairn Klieman
713.743.0907 | kklieman@uh.edu

Natalia Milanesio
713-743-3113 | nmilanesio@uh.edu
Courses: Women in Latin America

Monica Perales
713.743.3103 | mperales3@uh.edu
Courses: Chicana History, Mexican American Labor History, Identity and Resistance in US History

Linda Reed
713.743.3092 | lreed@uh.edu
Courses: African American Women in Slavery and Freedom

Todd Romero
713.743.3112 | tromero2@uh.edu 

Courses: Witchcraft in the Old and New World, Gender and Colonialism

Sally Vaughn
713.743.3122 | svaughn@uh.edu
Courses: Large portions of Medieval history courses deal with women's topics

Leandra Zarnow
713.743.3124 | lrzarnow@uh.edu
Courses: Issues in Feminist Research

Center for Mexican American & Latina/o Studies

Pamela Quiroz
713.743.3134 | paquiroz@ uh.edu

Modern and Classical Languages

Francesca D'Allesandro Behr
713.743.3043 | fdalessandro-behr@uh.edu 

Courses: Women in the Ancient World; Italian Renaissance

Casey Due Hackney
713.743.3240 | cdue-hackney@uh.edu

Courses: Greek and Roman Mythology

Sandy Frieden
713.743.3051 | sfrieden@uh.edu 

Courses: German Women Film Directors; International Women Writers; New Woman in Literature

Marie Theresa Hernandez
713.743.3074 | mherna18@central.uh.edu
Course: Gender & Sexuality in World Film

Caryn Tamber-Rosenau
713.743.9341 | cmtamber@central.uh.edu
Courses: Female Divinities; Women in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament

Bhavya Tiwari
713.743.1737 | btiwari@uh.edu

Pharmacy

Samina Salim
713.743.1776 | ssalim@uh.edu 
Refugee Women’s Health

Philosophy

Johanna Luttrell
jluttre2@central.uh.edu

Physics

Lawrence Pinsky
713.743.3552 | pinsky@uh.edu

Political Science

Naomi Choi
713.743.0413 | nchoi2@uh.edu
Courses: Multiculturalism in Theory and Practice

Jennifer Clark
713.743.3302 | jclark10@uh.edu

Nancy Sims
713.743.3895
Courses: Women in Politics

 

Social Work

Jean Kantambu Latting
713.743.809 | jlatting@uh.edu
Courses: Forming Alliances across Gender, Race, Class, Culture, and Other Differences

Sociology

Amanda Baumle
713.743.3944 | kbaumle@uh.edu

Courses: Gender & Society & Sociology of Sexuality

Tracy X. Karner
713.743.3961 | txkarner@uh.edu

Courses: Gender and Health; Seminar in Masculinity

Sheila Katz
713.743.1918 | smkatz@uh.edu
Courses: Sociology of Gender, etc.

Samantha Kwan
713.743.3948 | sskwan@uh.edu
Courses: Sociology of the Body, etc.

Neema Langa
713.743.2811 | nmlanga@central.uh.edu 
Courses: Gender & Health Care in Africa, etc.

Shayne Lee
713.743.3954 | slee3@uh.edu
Courses: African–American Family, etc.

Maria Monserud
713.743.3962 | mamonser@central.uh.edu
Courses: Comparative Family Structures, Sociology of Health Care, etc

Pamela A. Quiroz – Director of CMALS
713.743.3134 | paquiroz@central.uh.edu
Courses: Sociology of the Family; Race/Ethnicity, Gender & Social Class; etc.

TO CROSS LIST A COURSE