Reflections on Gender Studies in our Field: Conversation

The four participants in this forum were asked to reflect on how they address questions surrounding gender and sexuality in their work. For these four early career scholars (assistant professors or recently promoted associate professors), gender is not always considered a primary area of research but is one that informs their studies nonetheless. The discussion reveals that while their chosen objects of study vary tremendously, these scholars share a great deal when it comes to methods—particularly in their approach to the past and how best to make its concerns visible through our modern frameworks. Their differences concerning the place of presentism and theory, as well as degrees of interdisciplinarity and historicity, enable us to better understand the state of gender-oriented inquiry in our field.