Lauren Ruhnke is a third-year PhD student studying cultural anthropology and pursuing a graduate certificate in the Gender, Sexuality, and Women Studies Department. Lauren is interested in using queer and feminist theory and multimodal research methods to think about the interactions of identity (especially gender, sexuality, race, and citizenship), transnationalism, and gender/sexuality justice movements. Her research explores the identity work that happens as activists, institutions, and “queer” persons engage with digital media technologies to negotiate changing national and transnational understandings of gender and sexual rights and identities.  Lauren has begun to study these topics in the context of her field site, Mumbai, India, working in collaboration with activist groups centering digital and cinematic forums. She received her BA in Global Studies from Temple University in 2017 where her undergraduate thesis was awarded the Livingstone Undergraduate Research Award in the Humanities.

Faculty Advisor: Jess Marie Newman