Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies majors are encouraged to explore the possibility of completing a Mentored Advanced Project. Please note that all faculty are required to submit funding proposals for summer MAPs by the first week of February. After that deadline, faculty are not able to make plans for summer MAPs. Students in their second or third year should approach faculty with whom they would like to complete a summer MAP in the fall semester to find out if the faculty member plans to submit a MAP request for the following summer. MAPs during the fall and spring semesters do not operate according to this same structure. Students should ask individual faculty if they are available and interested in completing a MAP during the academic year.
The following profiles of past student MAPs highlight the variety of topics that students can pursue in this unique opportunity for scholarly inquiry.
Spring 2026: DR: Transient Documents Book
Mentor: Professor stefan torralba
Spring 2026: Queer Tranimal Crossings
Mentor: Professor stefan torralba
Fall 2025: DR: Reproductive Health
Mentor: Professor Gina Schlesselman-Tarango
Fall 2025: Queer-Trans *Furscapes
Mentor: Professor stef torralba
Summer 2025: Sacred Journeys
Mentor: Professor Carolyn Herbst
Summer 2025: Queer Mgrtn & Film Studies
Mentor: Professor stefan torralba
Spring 2025: Mental Health in Prison
Mentor: Professor Clara Montague
Fall 2024: Hospice After AIDS
Mentor: Professor Carolyn H. Lewis
Summer 2024: Feminist Mental Health
Mentor: Professor Clara Montague
Fall 2022: Emancipatory Journalism
Mentor: Professor Tamara Beauboeuf
Summer 2022: Affect Theory and Media
Mentor: Professor Mina Nikolopoulou
Summer 2022: Autotheory and Autofiction
Mentor: Professor Leah Allen
Summer 2021: Cancel Culture
Mentor: Professor Leah Allen
Summer 2021: Queer Occultisms
Mentor: Professor A.J. Lewis
Summer 2021: Fat Studies
Mentor: Professor Mina Nikolopoulou
Summer 2021: Domestic Lifwe Pinkwashing
Mentor: Professor Leah Allen & Professor A.J. Lewis
Fall 1 & 2 2020: Speculative Fiction and Race Making
Mentor: Professor M. Lavan
Summer 2020: LGBTQ Archival Dev Iowa
Mentor: Professor A.J. Lewis
Spring 2020: Advanced Oral History
Mentor: Professor A.J. Lewis
Fall 2018: Dramaturg Music Theatre
Mentor: Professor Brigittine French
Summer 2018: Black Women and Podcasts
Mentor: Professor Stephanie Jones
Summer 2016: Queer Folklore
Mentor: Professor A.J. Lewis
Spring 2016: DR: Title IX Research
Mentor: Professor Caleb Elfenbein
Fall 2014: Pussy Riot and FEMEN
Mentor: Professor Astrid Henry
Spring 2013: Advanced Studies in Critical Race Feminisms
Mentor: Professor Lakesia Johnson
Summer MAP 2011: Queer Television Studies
Mentor: Professor Astrid Henry
Summer MAP 2011: Advanced Studies in Feminist and Queer Theory
Mentor: Professor Terri Geller
Spring MAP 2010: TransTube: Transmen, YouTube, and Biomedical Discourse
Mentor: Professor Astrid Henry