Sarah Chant

Visiting Lecturer in Women's and Gender Studies

My research explores the production of queer and trans futures and political imaginaries in the U.S. South, particularly through practices of affect and memory. An anthropologist by training, I’ve conducted research amongst drag performers, activists, archivists, and clergy in Alabama, looking at how trans and queer people use strategies of hope, humor, desire, and imagination to make space for themselves and their communities. I’m currently developing a project on the affective dimensions of contemporary and historical anti-trans and anti-queer legislation in the southeastern United States, and how these histories intersect and overlap with anti-Black and anti-immigrant legislative initiatives in the region. I teach courses in queer theory, feminist theory, and queer popular culture, and have previously taught courses at the intersection of affect theory and trans theory as well as queer and trans histories of the U.S. South. As a physics student turned anthropologist turned gender studies scholar, I am also always interested in thinking and learning about different conceptualizations of space and time across disciplinary boundaries.

Current and upcoming courses

This course will offer a critical introduction to queer theory, a major theoretical framework within women’s and gender studies that emerges from the study of sex and sexuality as a guiding force in social and political life. The course will start with an expansive background on the history and development of queer theory, before exploring some of the key debates that continue to animate the field. Specifically, we will consider the complicated relationships between queer theory, feminist theory, and queer of color critique. Finally, the course will consider the relationship between queer theory and forms of queer expression in literature and culture, such as in Alison Bechdel's graphic memoir Fun Home and its musical adaptation.