Department of Women's & Gender StudiesFaculty & Staff
Department Chair
Dr. Elizabeth Groeneveld is a feminist media historian who examines the relationships between media making practices and social justice movements. Her book, Making Feminist Media: Third-Wave Magazines on the Cusp of Digital Age, examines third-wave feminist zines and magazines. Currently, she is writing a book about how 1980s lesbian sex magazines reimagined sex, power, and identity.
Departmental Manager & Student Support Contact
Students with requests, questions or larger university needs may contact Terri Hughes. For general department inquiries or community/media requests, email Terri at tjhughes@odu.edu.
Teachers of Excellence
Rachel Crockett is an AV Systems Engineer at the ODU Virginia Beach campus with 22 years of experience in audio-visual technologies and video production. Rachel has an MA in Humanities with a focus in activist filmmaking and a graduate certificate in Women's Studies. She teaches at the Virginia Beach and Norfolk campuses.
Jennifer N. Fish is a global sociologist who focuses on labor, migration, and human rights. She has worked with organizations across the world to increase women's and girls' access to education, establish legal protections for domestic workers and refugees, and increase access to health and security. Dr. Fish is the author of four books, as well as a series of journal articles, organizational reports and chapters. She also uses photography and filmmaking to tell the stories of women's contributions to societies throughout the world.
Lee Ellen Knight serves as Chief Departmental Advisor and teaches Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies, Feminist Foundations, Women, Gender, and Technology Worldwide, and Women, the Environment and Climate Change. Outside of the classroom, she sponsors the Environmental Club at ODU and is active in anti-racism education.
Dr. Amy K. Milligan is the Batten Endowed Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies and Women's and Gender Studies and the director of the Institute for Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding. She is an ethnographer who is particularly interested in the folkloric manifestations of selfhood and identity on the body (hair, tattooing, clothing, etc.) and uses these questions of bodylore to explore lived experiences of gender, sexuality, and religion.
Ruth Osorio received her PhD in English (Language, Writing, and Rhetoric) from the University of Maryland, College Park. She studies disability, access, activist writing, and feminist and queer methodologies. She's particularly interested in how disabled activists use disabled forms of expression to create space, community, and political power. Originally from Northern California, she is always on the hunt for the perfect vegetarian burrito.
Cathleen Rhodes is a master lecturer in the Department of Women's and Gender Studies and director of the Tidewater Queer History Project, an organization that works to preserve, collect, and celebrate LGBTQ history in southeastern Virginia. She also serves as president of Gay Cultural Studies at Old Dominion University.
