Women and Gender Studies Faculty Member Gives Talk at Washington and Lee University

Assistant Professor Rachel Lewis was recently invited to present her research on queer migration and LGBTQ human rights for the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Washington and Lee University. On March 24th, Rachel gave a lecture entitled, “Queer Intimacies: Visualizing Black Lesbian Desire in Post-Apartheid South Africa,” in which she discussed the work of South African black lesbian visual artist and activist, Zanele Muholi. In her second talk, “Deportable Subjects: Lesbians and the Political Asylum Process,” Rachel shared research from her current book project on the challenges to lesbian claims for asylum and refugee status. At GMU, Rachel teaches courses on transnational feminisms, queer theory, media and popular culture, race and immigration, disability studies, and human rights. She has published articles in Sexualities, Feminist Formations, Social Justice, International Feminist Journal of Politics, Journal of Lesbian Studies, Women & Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture, and Music & Letters. Material from Rachel’s talk on LGBTQ human rights in South Africa is forthcoming in a special issue of the journal Feminist Formations, “Mobilizing Vulnerability: New Directions in Transnational Feminisms and Human Rights.”