Department of Gender and Race Studies

Dr. Jennifer Purvis is an Associate Professor as well as the Director of Women’s Studies in the Department of Gender and Race Studies here at The University of Alabama.  A specialist in feminist theory, queer theory, French Feminisms, and contemporary and feminist Continental Philosophy, Dr. Purvis joined the department in 2002 with a joint doctorate in English and Philosophy and a graduate minor in Women’s Studies from Purdue University.  She teaches a variety of courses on gender and sexuality, queer, feminist, and trans theory, and contemporary issues in the field of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.  She served on the Executive Board of SEWSA (The Southeastern Women’s Studies Association, now WGS South, or The Association for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality in the South) for over a decade and has recently transitioned from Past-President to the Presidential Council.  She is the faculty advisor for UA’s chapter of URGE (Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity) and the faculty co-advisor for NOMC (Not on My Campus), an anti-rape and anti-sexual assault student organization.  She has published research on Simone de Beauvoir and Hegel, feminist generations and intergenerationality, Julia Kristeva, feminism and queer theory, affect theory, abjection, the gendered politics of shame, the stubborn hold of reproductive logics in theoretical discourse, and feminist returns to Antigone.  In addition to her ongoing work on temporality and reprocentrism, the topics of her forthcoming and in-progress research include: Luce Irigaray, virtual materialities, feminist and queer temporality, queer kinship, feminist vigilantism, feminism and monstrosity, regionalisms, gender and excess, sexual justice, and queer realms of memory in French and Francophone film.

Dr. Purvis’ photo, taken by Alisha Power, is from the recent Mosaic article found here: https://issuu.com/uamosaicmagazine/docs/mosaic_fall2023_issue