Biography

Wanda S. Pillow is Professor & Chair of Gender Studies, School for Cultural and Social Transformation.  Pillow offers courses in feminist research methods; advanced feminist theory, Women of Color feminisms, and colonial history of sex, race, gender. Pillow is Co-Editor of the journal "Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies" and author of Unfit Subjects: Educational Policy and the Teen Mother; co-editor of Working the Ruins: Feminist Poststructural Theory and Methods in Education; and has published numerous essays in Education Policy and Feminist/Gender Studies journals.   Her work focuses on intersectional analyses of the relationship between subjectivity and representation (historically, legally, discursively and textually) and on tracing what this means and looks like methodologically and theoretically across cultural productions, policy, and embodied praxis.   Resulting projects include tracing colonial relations of gender, race and sexuality through Sacajawea and York of the 1804-1806 Corps of Discovery expedition; methodological essays; and on-going participation in research and efforts for the educational rights of young mothers.  Professor Pillow has a range of leadership experience and is committed to mentoring students and emerging scholars.  This commitment was recognized in Spring 2021 when Professor Pillow received a Distinguished Mentor Award from the University of Utah.
 

Education

  • Ph.D., Educational Policy/Gender Studies, Ohio State University

Research Summary

see biography

Selected Works

  • Pillow, W.S. (2015). Policy Temporality & Marked Bodies: Feminist praxis amongst the Ruins. Critical Studies in Education, 56(1), 55-70. Published, 02/2015.
  • Pillow, W. S. & Mayo, C. (2011)(2nd Edition). Feminist Ethnography/Histories, Challenges, and Possibilities. In S. Nagy Hesse-Biber (Ed). Handbook of Feminist Research: Theory and Praxis (187-204). SAGE. Published, 01/2011.
  • Pillow, W.S. 2017. “Imagining (Data) Differently.” In T. Gale and K. Gulson (eds). Education Policy & Social Inequality, pp. 133-151. London: Springer Press. Published, 11/2016.
  • Pillow, Wanda S. (2004). Unfit Subjects. Routledge. Published, 01/01/2004.
  • Pillow, W.S. (2007). “Bodies are dangerous”: Using feminist genealogy as policy studies methodology. In Stephen Ball, Ivor Goodson, & Meg Maguire (eds). Education, Globalisation, and New Times (139-147). Routledge: London. Published, 08/2007.
  • Pillow, W.S. & C. Cruz (2019). Theorizing the razor’s edge in love and rage. The International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. 32(2), 111. Published, 03/2019.
  • Pillow, W. S. (2019) Epistemic witnessing: theoretical responsibilities, decolonial attitude and lenticular futures, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 32(2), 118-135, DOI: 10.1080/09518398.2019.1576938. Accepted, 03/2019.
  • Pillow, W.S. (2015). Reflexivity as Interpretation and Genealogy in research. Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies15(6) 419–434. Published, 12/2015.
  • Pillow, W.S. (2015). Mothering a Black son who dreams of another country. Special issue: “From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin.” Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies, 15(4), 316-321. Published, 08/2015.
  • Pillow, W.S. (2016). Sex and Race in the Corps Expedition. In Jennifer Brier & Jennifer Morgan (eds). Connexions: Histories of Race and Sex in North America. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. Published, 10/2016.
  • Pillow, W.S. (2003). Confession, catharsis, or cure: The use of reflexivity as methodological power in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. 16(2), 175-196. Published, 01/2003.
  • Pillow, W.S. (2006). Teen Pregnancy and Education: Politics of Knowledge, Research, and Practice. Politics of Education Handbook. Catherine Lugg (Ed.). Educational Policy, 20(1), 59-84. Published, 01/2006.
  • Pillow, W. (2019). Qualitative research at the policy table. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. Oxford University Press. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.341. Accepted, 09/2019.
  • Pillow, W. S. (2007). Searching for Sacajawea: Whitened Reproductions and Endarkened Representations. Hypatia 22(2), 1-19. Published, 01/2007.
  • Pillow, W.S. (2006). Exposed Methodology: The body as deconstructive practice. In Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber & Patricia Leavy (eds). Emergent Methods in Social Science Research (213-234). SAGE. Published, 01/2006.
  • Pillow, W.S. (2012). Sacajawea: Witnessing, remembrance and ignorance. Power and Education, 4(1), 45-56. Published, 01/2012.