The work of Dr. Suzanna Danuta Walters focuses on issues of gender, feminist theory and politics, sexuality and popular culture and is a frequent commentator on these issues for the media. Her most recent book, The Tolerance Trap: How God, Genes, and Good Intentions Sabotage Gay Equality (NYU Press), explores how notions of tolerance limit the possibilities for true liberation and deep social participation. This book has been the subject of numerous radio and press interviews and discussions, which you can listen to and read on her website www.suzannawalters.com. Walters' previous book, All the Rage: The Story of Gay Visibility in America (University of Chicago Press, 2001), examined the explosion of gay visibility in culture and politics over the past 15 years and raised pressing questions about the politics of visibility surrounding sexual identity. The book was a finalist for several literary awards (including the Lambda Literary Award). Her other works include books on feminist cultural theory (Material Girls: Making Sense of Feminist Cultural Theory), mothers and daughters in popular culture (Lives Together/Worlds Apart: Mothers and Daughters in Popular Culture) and many articles and book chapters on feminist theory, queer theory, and LGBT studies and popular culture. She is currently working on a book that examines the state of both feminist theory and politics in an era of “campaign feminism” and heightened attention to social media.
Walters is also a regular contributor to more public venues and has written for The Nation, The Chronicle of Higher EducationThe LA Timesand Baltimore Sun, including. In 2004, Walters established the nation's first Ph.D. program in gender studies at Indiana University, where she was professor of gender studies and held positions in sociology and communication and culture. Previously, Walters was professor of sociology and director of women's studies at Georgetown University. She was also a visiting senior scholar at the Center for Narrative Research at the University of East London. She is its Editor-in-Chief Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.
