Chris Bobel
Dr. Bobel focuses most broadly on the analysis of social movements through an intersectional feminist lens. She is interested in the relationships between embodiment, resistance, alternativity, and ever-evolving feminist theories. Dr. Bobel’s research to date has engaged women-centered “everyday” activism in the areas of motherhood/mothering and women’s reproductive health (particularly menstruation). As a scholar of social movements and activism, she explores questions about origins, strategies, structure, and ultimately, the promise of movements to realize social change. As a teacher, Bobel regards the classroom as a site that presents the daily challenge of inspiring students to acknowledge the complex interplay of oppression and privilege and the many ways they can use this information to create social change.
Teaching
Women in US Social Movements (WoSt/AmSt 394), Feminist Research Methods (WoSt 370)
Selected publications
Bobel, C. (2008). “From Convenience to Hazard: A Short History of the Emergence of the Menstrual Activism Movement, 1971-1992” Health Care for Women International, Vol. 29, Issue 7, pp.738-754.
Bobel, C. (2007). “’I’m not an activist, per se, though I’ve done a lot of it’: Doing Activism, Being Activist and the Perfect Standard in a Contemporary Movement.” Social Movement Studies Vol. 6, Issue 2, pp. 147-159.
Bobel, C. (2007). “Resisting, But Not Too Much: Interrogating the Paradox of Natural Mothering.”. In A. O’Reilly (Ed). Maternal Theory: Essential Reading 1976-2000. Toronto, Ontario: Demeter Press (pp 782-791.)
Bobel, C. (2006). “‘Our Revolution Has Style’: Menstrual Product Activists ‘Doing Feminism’ in the Third Wave.” Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, Vol. 54, Issue 4/5, pp. 331-345.
Bobel, C. (2002). The Paradox of Natural Mothering. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Projects in Progress
Bobel, C. (forthcoming). When the Private Becomes Public: Menstruation, Resistance and Doing Feminism in the Third Wave. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press (Gender, Women, and Health series).
Bobel, C. & Kwan, S. (Eds.) Embodied Resistance: Breaking the Rules in Public Spaces. (accepting abstracts for this collection until December 19, 2008 to chris.bobel@umb.edu and sswkan@hu.edu)
Office: Wheatley, 5th floor, Room 009
Email: chris.bobel@umb.edu
Phone: 617-287-6781
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11-12:00