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News and Views
Fall 1999 Volume 10, Issue 1
Undisciplined Thoughts on Grad School
by Sara Crawley
I think all good academic work is conducted by individuals with passionate, personal concerns for the academic issues at hand. One big problem for the graduate student of this variety is fitting amorphous, grandiose intellectual concerns into one discipline. Did you ever wonder why they are called disciplines? (i.e., "disciplining a child," "Show some discipline!" or "You will be disciplined." Ouch!) Discipline has not always been my best trait and my foray into academia is an example of this foible. The current academic disciplinary system is still too disciplined for me. I cant be made to study in only one way ¨ borrowing from 3 white guys, long since dead, and using only one methodology that confuses me, the researcher, let alone the lay person for whom I wish to construct this academic knowledge. Although I have chosen sociology as the (most comfortable?) route through which to pursue my interests, I have had to search for the folks within and outside sociology whose theoretical and methodological premises support and legitimate my often marginal interests.
The
central thread running through my research is a concern for how assumed
biological sex creates social barriers for women and men, and the ways
in which both women and men negotiate, use, and change gendered and sexualized
expectations to overcome those barriers. I am particularly interested
in the fixity of gender and sexual expectations based on biological sex
and people who, nonetheless, pursue access to non-normative gendered activities
and sexual identities. Most recently, I have become interested in how
"knowing" is affected by experiences with the body and particular kinds
of socially recognizable bodies (e.g., "womens" bodies, "lesbian" or
"butch" bodies). My particular research interests include non-normative
performances of gender (especially butch and fem in lesbian communities),
power relations in social movements (for example, sexism among gay men
and lesbians in political organizing), and the ways in which gender structures
sport and sport structures womens bodies.
Sound like Sociology? Not to many sociologists. I think my work lives in an interdisciplinary setting--particularly Womens Studies and Queer Studies. My research interests are all from personal and political experiences and commitments-- many of which center on my perceptions about unjust situations within social systems. My interests were borne in a multi-contextual world, not in a well-defined place in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Having access to Womens Studies and Queer Studies in graduate school, particularly given the interdisciplinary nature of these departments (as opposed to disciplines), has made all the difference in my work and my graduate training. By taking courses in Womens Studies and Queer Studies, I have learned more about the bureaucracy that is academia and about the diverse perspectives that are offered by many disciplines. I think I bring an interesting perspective back to my cohorts in sociology from the different angles of vision learned in those interdisciplinary settings. Im pretty happy with my place within the academy, maybe because it reflects my place in the world.
This, of course, is all a big plug to encourage other graduate students to take Womens Studies courses and other interdisciplinary courses as part of graduate training. These courses provide a healthy questioning of epistemologies which are too often readily accepted, and allow for a interdisciplinary discussion of ideas. This interdisciplinary focus provides me with indispensable experiences that I expect will prepare me well for my future in academia. Im all for a little less "discipline" and a little more sharing of knowledge. Thats what a liberal academic education is supposed to be about anyway, isnt it?
