Social Transformation Studies

Dr. Rachel Levitt

Teaching Associate Professor & Director of Undergraduate Studies

Rachel newLeasure Hall 003B
Office hours: M & W noon-4 pm
levitt@k-state.edu

BA, California State University, Northridge
MA, California State University, Northridge
PhD, University of New Mexico


In addition to their work in the Social Transformation Studies department, Dr. Rachel Levitt is co-chair of K-State's LGBTQ Faculty Staff Association and serves as co-chair of the Flint Hills Human Rights Project board. In their spare time, Dr. Levitt loves to cook fancy things, go swimming, and binge-watch feminist true crime. They also share their birthday with the fabulous Billy Porter!

Research Interests

Dr. 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, and legal studies.

Select Publications

Review of the book Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law. QED: A Journal of GLBTQ Worldmaking. (Fall, 2013).

"Silence Speaks Volumes." In Silence, Feminism, Power: Reflections on the Edges of Sound, edited by Aimee Carrillo Rowe and Sheena Malhotra, 90-109. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Review of the book When Did Indians Become Straight? Kinship, the History of Sexuality, and Native Sovereignty. American Indian Quarterly. Vol. 36, No. 3 (Summer, 2012).

Teaching Awards

Dr. Levitt has been recognized with multiple teaching and mentoring awards, including:

  • the Davids-Dunham Award for excellence as a teacher and scholar,
  • the William L. Stamey Award for outstanding undergraduate teaching,
  • the LGBT Resource Center's Esteemed Faculty Award for exceptional support and advocacy for queer students,
  • the University Honors Program Faculty Teaching and Mentoring Award,
  • and K-State First's First-Year Advocate Award, among others.

Courses

STRAN 600: Pathways to Social Change

STRAN 400: Transforming Society

GWSS 810: Theories and Methodologies in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies

GWSS 799: Independent Study for Graduate Students. Arrange topic with professor. Previous topics have included:

    • Queer Pedagogies
    • Theories of Sexual Violence
    • Intersections of Trauma
    • LGBTQ Activisms
    • African Feminisms
    • Comparative Colonialisms

GWSS 700: Independent Study, “Queer Theory and Education.”

GWSS 560: Intersections of Violence and Resistance

GWSS 510: Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies Methods

GWSS 410: Feminist Thought

GWSS 405: Resistance and Social Movements

GWSS 380: Global Struggles for Queer, Feminist, and Transgender Justice

GWSS 325: Queer Studies: Concepts, History, Politics

GWSS 305: Engaging Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies

GWSS 300: Legal Injustice

GWSS 300: Queer Rights and the Law

GWSS 105: Introduction to Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies

UHP 189: College Activism and Social Justice