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People

WGST Faculty

Dr. Tracy Woodard-Meyers

Director of Women's and Gender Studies
Professor, Sociology

tmeyers@valdosta.edu | Curriculum Vitae

229 293-6307

I have been teaching at Valdosta State University since 1994. My teaching interestes include sociology of gender, sociology of family, gender in popular culture, intimate partner violence, global feminism,and race, class, gender, and sexuality. My current research focuses on sexual attitudes, behaviors, and experiences among college students. I have published articles and book chapters regarding secondary traumatic stress in child protective service workers. I have also published strategies for conducting successful sexual assault interviews. I am very involved on campus and in the community advocating for social justice. I think everyone can benefit from a minor in Women's and Gender Studies.

Sha' Gray

Dr. Shani Gray

Associate Professor, Criminal Justice and Women's and Gender Studies

spgray@valdosta.edu | Curriculum Vitae

229 249-4835

August 1, 2005 I began my professorship here at Valdosta State University (VSU). Since I was five years old, I have had an interest in criminal justice. What began as I desire to always be the cop, when I played cops and robbers, transitioned to a desire to be an FBI agent, then a juvenile probation officer, and finally a criminal justice professor. My research interests include Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and their involvement with offenders and the criminal justice system, juvenile justice issues (i.e., juvenile waivers & ATOD), mentally-ill offenders, community corrections (i.e., the use of community service, probation, and electronic monitoring as alternative forms of sentencing), and minorities (race & gender) in the criminal justice system. As a result I teach a Women in Criminal Justice Course for the Women and Gender Studies program and I am involved in campus activism.

Dr. Dixie Haggard

Assistant Professor, History

drhaggard@valdosta.edu

229 333-5947

Dr. Lavonna Lovern

Lecturer

llovern@valdosta.edu

229 333-7376

I graduated with a B.A. in philosophy from Central Methodist University in 1984, an M.A. in philosophy from University of Missouri-Columbia in 1986 and completed a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1995. In 2003, I moved to Georgia to work more closely with Native American groups in the region but have continued working with Dr. Carol Locust and the University of Arizona on issues of Indian Child Welfare, health and wellness issues/ disability issues and rights/educational issues in Native American communities. In addition to working with the Ultimate Potential Corporation, a non-profit Native American organization, in Tucson and Mantle Rock Native American Educational Center in Kentucky, I am a Lecturer at Valdosta State University teaching in the Philosophy and Religious Studies department. Along with faculty from other departments, I have assisted in the development of a Native American Studies program that will begin in 2010. While teaching standard courses in both Philosophy and Religion, I have developed courses in Native American Women, Native American Thought, Post-Colonization issues in Indigenous Cultures and Alternative Religions of the World. My publication work is currently in the area of Native American disability as well as issues of Native American wellness and unwellness and a current work dealing with Seers and Knowers.

Cathy Oglesby

Dr. Cathy Oglesby

Professor, History

coglesby@valdosta.edu | Curriculum Vitae

229 333-5947

Teresa Paliwoda

Instructor of English and Women's and Gender Studies

tcpaliwoda@valdosta.edu

229 249-4842

I have been teaching at Valdosta State University since Fall 2006. I teach Women's Voices (PERS 2210), Race, Class, Gender (AFAM/WGST 2020), Composition I (ENGL 1101), Composition II (ENGL 1102), and World Literature I (ENGL 2110). I am currenlty completing my dissertation on grief and Toni Morrison's Beloved and A Mercy . My teaching interests lie in African American literature and gender studies. I enjoy teaching on the college level and my door is always open. Please come by and see me. My office is located in Carswell Hall.

Helen Wishart