Rachel Levitt, Ph.D.
Program Coordinator, Social Transformation Studies
Teaching Professor
Education
Ph.D., University of New Mexico
M.A., California State University, Northridge
B.A., California State University, Northridge
Rachel Levitt is a teacher, scholar, program builder, and higher education leader who helps students and communities understand how communication, power, identity, and institutions shape social change. Their work bridges communication studies, interdisciplinary social justice scholarship, queer studies, legal studies, public engagement, and community organizing. As an educator and leader, Levitt is committed to building programs, curricula, and institutional structures that expand access, cultivate belonging, and prepare students to engage thoughtfully with complex social issues.
Levitt's research explores the intersections of communication, identity, power, and social movements. Drawing from queer and feminist theories, queer of color critique, Native studies, disability studies, critical university studies, and legal studies, their scholarship examines how institutions shape experiences of belonging and exclusion, how silence and visibility function as communicative practices, and how communities mobilize for social change. Their work contributes to ongoing conversations about intersectionality, activism, higher education, queer data sovereignty, and the possibilities for transformative social and institutional change.
As a faculty leader, Levitt has played a significant role in developing innovative interdisciplinary programs and strengthening student success initiatives. They have extensive experience in curriculum development, program administration, faculty mentorship, strategic planning, and community engagement. Their leadership emphasizes collaboration, inclusion, and the creation of sustainable structures that support students, faculty, and staff in navigating the opportunities and challenges facing higher education today.
Beyond the classroom, Levitt is actively engaged in advocacy, organizing, and community leadership. They serve as co-chair of K-State's LGBTQ Faculty Staff Association and co-chair of the non-profit the Flint Hills Human Rights Project, working to advance equity, inclusion, and human rights both within the university and throughout the broader community.
Levitt is an award-winning educator whose teaching centers critical inquiry, engaged dialogue, and student empowerment. They teach courses that explore communication, identity, social justice, activism, and social transformation, helping students develop the analytical, ethical, and communicative skills necessary to navigate an increasingly interconnected world. Their commitment to teaching and mentorship has been recognized through multiple university and community awards, including the Davids-Dunham Award for Excellence as a Teacher and Scholar, the William L. Stamey Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching, the University Honors Program Faculty Teaching and Mentoring Award, the LGBT Resource Center Esteemed Faculty Award, and the K-State First-Year Advocate Award, among others.
Levitt's research interests include: queer and feminist theories of violence; queer of color critique; queer Native studies; queer disability studies; intersectional activism; critical university studies; legal studies; social movements; identity and difference; communication and social change.
Selected publications:
Levitt, R. (2013). [Review of the book Normal life: Administrative violence, critical trans politics, and the limits of law, by D. Spade]. QED: A Journal of GLBTQ Worldmaking.
Levitt, R. (2003). Silence speaks volumes. In A. Carrillo Rowe & S. Malhotra (Eds.), Silence, feminism, power: Reflections on the edges of sound (pp. 90-109). Palgrave Macmillan.
Levitt, R. (2012). [Review of the book When did Indians become straight? Kinship, the history of sexuality, and Native sovereignty, by M. Rifkin]. American Indian Quarterly, 36(3).
The Council of the Red Nation. (2015). Native liberation struggles in North America: The Red Nation 10-point program. Capitalism Nature Socialism, 26(2), 1-7. (Co-author as a member of The Council of the Red Nation.)
Works in Progress
Levitt, R. (in preparation). Queer data sovereignty: A student research bill of rights & vetting process for queer communities. Manuscript in preparation for submission to Journal of Rural Studies.
Levitt, R. (in preparation). Transformative pedagogies. Manuscript in preparation for submission to Transformations.
Levitt, R., & Vaughn, M. (in preparation). LGBTQ student retention: A call for resourced solutions. Manuscript in preparation for submission to Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice.