About Me
Mary A. Armstrong
I am Charles A. Dana Professor of Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies and English at Lafayette College (Easton, PA), where I also chair the Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program. I hold a PhD in English and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies from Duke University. My abbreviated CV is here.
My recent book, Disparate Measures: The Intersectional Economics of Women in STEM Work (MIT Press 2024), is coauthored with economist and Lafayette colleague Professor Susan Averett. Disparate Measures deploys intersectional feminist economics to challenge the narrative that STEM professions are a source of economic advantage and social justice for diverse women.
My broader work in Inclusive STEM Studies examines topics such as how Gender Studies classes support students’ STEM identity formation, intersectional approaches to institutional transformation, and effective strategies for supporting diverse women in academic STEM fields. I have received multiple grants from the National Science Foundation ADVANCE Program to support my scholarship and I consult regularly on NSF projects related to STEM diversity.
I am engaged in LGBTQ+ scholarly activism through Queering the Archives and am founder and director of the Lafayette College Queer Archives Project (QAP). The QAP is a national award-winning project that innovatively combines LGBTQ+ oral histories with the digital humanities to uncover an institution’s Queer history, improve campus climate, and infuse LGBTQ+ content into the curriculum.
Although much of my scholarship is interdisciplinary, I also conduct research in the area of Victorian Literature and have published widely in the field. My literary criticism mainly focuses on how narratives of desire and pleasure structure (and are structured by) nineteenth-century British fiction.
Finally, teaching is my personal and professional passion. I strive to foster critical skills in a context of curiosity, inclusivity, and excellence, and I am proud to be part of the transformative work of liberal arts education.