stef shuster

In 2004 I graduated from Indiana University – Bloomington with a B.A. in Sociology and a minor in Human Development/Family Studies. Over the last several years I have moved around the country, beginning my post-undergrad adventure in the Bay Area. In San Francisco I was employed as a field researcher and phone interviewer. Eventually, the Midwest called me ‘home’ and I returned to Bloomington to work as a research assistant for a survey research organization.

 As a graduate student here at the University of Iowa, I am pursuing a PhD in Sociology but am taking an interdisciplinary approach to my education and research through the incorporation of Queer and Feminist theories and methodologies in addition to coursework in other departments.

Broadly speaking, my research interests include gender, sexuality, and social movements. I anticipate that future research will weave together these three areas - with a focus on transgender movements, identities, and narratives. I also am a photographer and would like to integrate photography with my research in order to help bring sociological knowledge to a broader medium than ‘just’ academic discourse. 

Currently I am working on my thesis research that involves a comparative study of three Midwestern queer student resource centers. Using historical archival data, interviews, and observations, I am trying to make sense of the strategies used to establish and maintain these centers.