Kathryn Stockton

Dr. Kathryn Stockton currently serves as the Director of Gender Studies in conjunction with her work as a writer. Like many professors, Dr. Stockton has published a litany of professional papers that scrutinize topics like gender, sexuality, race, and culture. However, her creative efforts extend far beyond the scholarly journals that circulate throughout the world of academia. Her published manuscripts offer many unique perspectives on topics that some may find taboo. Not one to shy away from controversy, her most recent book, The Queer Child, or Growing Sideways in the Twentieth Century, takes on a subject that few dare to touch: homosexuality and children. Dr. Kathryn Stockton asserts that childhood is a societal paradigm; culture determines that children are innocent and assigns certain values to childhood without taking into account their individuality. According to Stockton, because of society’s refusal to allow children to grow up until they reach an age that society deems appropriate, children grow “sideways,” thus forcing them to navigate their gender, sexuality, and personality through other channels. In Beautiful Bottom, Beautiful Shame: Where Black Meets Queer, Dr. Kathryn Stockton explores the relationship between race and homosexuality in the context of degradation. Her book discusses the societal construction of shame through the analysis of films and other works of literature. The diverse group of writers she examines range from Toni Morrison to Quentin Tarantino. Her creativity has earned acknowledgement and appreciation from several esteemed organizations. In 2007, Dr. Kathryn Stockton won the 2007, Crompton-Noll Prize for the Best Essay in Gay Studies from the Modern Language Association. She was also the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Utah chapter of NOW (the National Organization of Women). The University of Utah also recognized her efforts as an educator and conferred Dr. Kathryn Stockton with the prestigious Presidential Teaching Scholar Award for Teaching Excellence in the University.