Kari Lerum is a researcher, scholar, educator, & social justice advocate. She is an Associate Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at University of Washington Bothell, an Adjunct Professor in Gender, Women, & Sexuality Studies at University of Washington Seattle. She is a former co-chair of the Seattle LGBTQ commission, and former Chair of both the UWB Campus Diversity Council and the UWB General Faculty Organization.
Lerum's research focuses on the intersections of sexuality, power, & context. Her current work focuses on policies about sex work & human trafficking; her research has also critically evaluated popular discourses about the "sexualization of girls," challenged normative assumptions of workplace sexuality, pushed for emotionally engaged epistemological approaches for critical theory, and advocated for non-carceral strategies for racial, economic, gender, & sexual justice. Most recently, her research and teaching also includes critical death studies. She has published in journals such as Anti-Trafficking Review, Cultural Studies <--> Critical Methodologies, Gender & Society, Journal of Pedagogy & Curriculum, Journal of Sex Research, Qualitative Inquiry, Sexuality & Culture, and Sex Roles, and in edited volumes such as Presumed Incompetent: The intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia. Her writing can also be found at Ms. Blog, Rh Reality Check, Sexuality & Society, The Conversation, and The Feminist Wire.
Professor Lerum teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in topics related to inequality, critical race & gender studies, cultural studies, death studies, research methods, sexual politics, & sexuality education. She is also a consulting editor for Archives of Sexual Behavior, is on the editorial board of Sexuality & Culture, and is a former editor of the "Mediations" section of Contexts Magazine.
Lerum's research focuses on the intersections of sexuality, power, & context. Her current work focuses on policies about sex work & human trafficking; her research has also critically evaluated popular discourses about the "sexualization of girls," challenged normative assumptions of workplace sexuality, pushed for emotionally engaged epistemological approaches for critical theory, and advocated for non-carceral strategies for racial, economic, gender, & sexual justice. Most recently, her research and teaching also includes critical death studies. She has published in journals such as Anti-Trafficking Review, Cultural Studies <--> Critical Methodologies, Gender & Society, Journal of Pedagogy & Curriculum, Journal of Sex Research, Qualitative Inquiry, Sexuality & Culture, and Sex Roles, and in edited volumes such as Presumed Incompetent: The intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia. Her writing can also be found at Ms. Blog, Rh Reality Check, Sexuality & Society, The Conversation, and The Feminist Wire.
Professor Lerum teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in topics related to inequality, critical race & gender studies, cultural studies, death studies, research methods, sexual politics, & sexuality education. She is also a consulting editor for Archives of Sexual Behavior, is on the editorial board of Sexuality & Culture, and is a former editor of the "Mediations" section of Contexts Magazine.
