Faculty | Gender & Sexuality Studies

As an interdisciplinary program, the Gender and Sexuality Studies programs draws upon the expertise of faculty from across the College of Arts and Sciences. This provides students with the opportunity to engage in a liberal arts exploration of GSS and see how GSS is related to fields across the university. The following faculty are affiliated with the Gender and Sexuality Studies Program and can serve as an advisor for a GSS minor:

Aimee Wodda, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Law and Society
awodda@pacificu.edu
503-352-3125

Dr. Wodda earned her Ph.D. in Criminology, Law, and Justice in 2018 from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Aimee is a queer/feminist criminologist and law & society scholar who explores connections between gender, sexuality, and the law.

Photograph of Professor Bove.
Alexander Bove, PhD
Professor
above@pacificu.edu
(503) 352-2010

Professor Bove received his Ph.D. from Boston University and specializes in Victorian literature and culture, British Romanticism, and critical theory.

Daniel Eisen, PhD
Associate Professor; Soc/Anth/CJLS/GSS Department Chair
deisen@pacificu.edu
503-352-1552

Daniel Eisen, PhD is an Assistant Professor at Pacific University whose research is situated in the study of race, ethnic identity, and racial and ethnic relations. Employing critical race theory and grounded theory methodologies, his research examines Filipino ethnic identity development in Hawai‘i. 

Dawn M. Salgado, PhD
Associate Professor
dsalgado@pacificu.edu
503-352-1548

Dawn Salgado is an associate professor for the College of Arts & Science.

 

 

Ellen Margolis, PhD
Professor; Theatre & Dance Department Chair
margolis@pacificu.edu
503-352-2752

Ellen Margolis serves as chair of Theatre & Dance and director of Theatre. Her classes include all levels of acting, playwriting, directing, audition techniques, phonetics & dialects, among others. She holds an MFA in acting from the University of California at Davis and a PhD in theatre history from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Jason Damron
Visiting Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, and Gender Studies
damr9825@pacificu.edu
503-352-2742

Jason G. Damron is a Visiting Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, and Gender Studies at Pacific University. His work and teaching covers queer and social theories, interdisciplinary studies of social science and gender, and the history and intellectual development of affect and emotion studies. His current project seeks to reconcile cultural ideals of "waiting" and intimacy with thinking about bureaucracy and other affective registers of contemporary neoliberalism.

Jennifer Bhalla, PhD
Professor, Department Chair
jenniferbhalla@pacificu.edu
503-352-3013

Price 110

Jennifer Hardacker
Professor
hard4535@pacificu.edu
503-352-2749

Jennifer Hardacker teaches film and video production studies and has made several short, experimental films and videos that have shown in festivals across America and Canada. 

Kathleen Converse
Kathleen Converse, MSW
Director of the Center for Gender Equity & Advocacy Network Coordinator
kathleenconverse@pacificu.edu
503-352-2273

Kathleen (she/her/hers) has her Masters in Social Work, with a focus on Gender and Sexuality Studies. She is passionate about intersectional feminism, and working to end systems of oppression and interpersonal violence.​ When she’s not fighting the white hetero-patriarchy she enjoys spending time with her partner, energetic toddler, and rambunctious basset hound labrador pup, reading, running, or eating copious amount of chocolate.

Photograph of Professor Mitra.
Keya Mitra, PhD
Professor & Creative Writing Program Director
keyamitra@pacificu.edu
(503) 352-2989

Professor Mitra is the Director of Creative Writing, teaching writing and literature courses for the English Department. There, she also serves as co-editor-in-chief of Silk Road Review: A Literary Crossroads and PLUM: Pacific's Literary Undergraduate Magazine. (On sabbatical spring 2020.)

Paul Snell, PhD
Assistant Professor
psnell@pacificu.edu
503-352-2709

Paul Snell is an assistant professor of Politics and Government at Pacific University. Prior to Paul's arrival at Pacific, he taught fourth grade in the Las Vegas Valley as a Teach for America corps member. His research is on the foundations of political science and has taught a variety of courses in American Politics and Political Theory including race, gender, sexuality and politics, Democratic Theory.

Rebecca Twist, PhD
Professor, Program Director
rtwist@pacificu.edu
503-352-2004

Rebecca Twist teaches art history at Pacific University.