Susan Freeman

Dr. Susan Freeman, chair of gender and women's studies at Western Michigan University, studies and teaches about the historical construction of gender and sexual identity, with an emphasis on how feminist, LGBT, and other social justice movements have shaped popular perceptions of sexuality. She is author of Sex Goes to School: Girls and Sex Education in the 1940s and 1950s (University of Illinois Press, 2008), and her co-edited book with Leila Rupp, Understanding and Teaching U.S. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History (University of Wisconsin Press, 2014), won the 2014 Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Anthology. Prior to joining the faculty of WMU in 2010, Freeman taught at Minnesota State University, Mankato and Florida International University. Combining archival research and oral histories, her current research explores the beginnings of lesbian and gay studies classes starting in 1969.