Betsy Dahms, Ph.D.

Professor of Spanish
School of Humanities College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

678-839-5967
edahms@westgahg9oJP5A7spyeBcOGxGxI1U5kga.edu

Boyd Building - Room 217

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Betsy Dahms, Ph.D.

Betsy Dahms (they/them) is a Professor of Spanish in the program of International Languages and Cultures. Their research focuses on Chicana Feminist literature, more specifically the life and work of Gloria Anzaldúa and gender and sexuality studies. Dahms employs the theoretical framework of gender and sexuality studies to explore gender performativity, queer theories, the intersection of queerness, spirituality and masculinities in various Latinx author's works. While they have been largely concerned with the construction of identity in all its manifestations, their areas of research have expanded into curriculum development, contemplative practices, team teaching and the co-production of knowledge. Dahms actively seeks out creative collaborations with colleagues.

In addition to teaching Spanish language courses, they serve as director of the Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies certificate and the minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies. 

  • B.A., Spanish, Centre College, 2003
  • M.A., Hispanic Studies, University of Kentucky, 2009
  • Ph.D., Hispanic Studies, University of Kentucky, 2012
  • Certificate, Women's and Gender Studies, University of Kentucky, 2012

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Fall 2020 Sections

Dahms, Betsy. Ana Zapata-Calle, Angélica Lozano-Alonso and Bryan Pearce-Gonzales.“Incorporating Latinx Studies in the Spanish Major: A Case Study.” MIFLC Review: Journal of the Mountain Interstate Foreign Language Conference. 21 (2022).

Dahms, Betsy. “Imaginar un hogar: desplazamiento psicológico y su relación con la imaginación en tres obras de Gloria Anzaldúa.” Hispan@s en el mundo: Emoción y desplazamiento.Eds. Verena Dolle,Danae Gallo Gonzálezand Mirjam Leuzinger. De Gruyter

Dahms, Betsy. “Formalizing Fluidity: Queer Second Person Narration and the Posthumanistic Turn in Anzaldúa’s Later Writing.” Label Me Latina/o: Journal of Twentieth and Twenty-first Latino Literary Production. Eds.Michele Shauland Kathryn Quin-

Cormican, Muriel, Betsy Dahms, and Robert Kilpatrick. “Embracing Disciplinary Trouble: Silos Identity, and Shared Intellectual Endeavor.” Feminist German Studies 36.1. Eds. HesterBaer and Alexandra M. Hill. U of Nebraska P, (2020). 24-39.

Dahms, Betsy. “Anzaldúa, Gloria.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature. Oxford University Press. Article published November 2019. [View Publication External Resource]

Dahms, Betsy, with AnaLouise Keating and Kelli Zaytoun."Working with Anzaldúa’s Writing Notas: An Archival Experiment in Three Parts." El Mundo Zurdo 5. Eds. Domino Perez, Larissa Mercado-López and Sonia Saldívar-Hull. San Francisco: Aunt Lute P, 2016

Dahms, Betsy."Queering Citizenship: UndocuQueer and Immigration Reform." Diálogo: An Interdisciplinary Studies Journal Published by the Center for Latino Research at DePaul University. 18.2 (2015): 79-90.

Dahms, Betsy. “Compulsory Heterosexuality in Gloria Anzaldúa’s ‘El Paisano is a bird of good omen.’” El Mundo Zurdo 3: Selected Works from the 2011 Meeting of the Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa. Eds. Antonia Castañeda, Sonia Saldíva

Dahms, Betsy.“Shamanic Urgency and Two-way Movement as Writing Style in the Works of Gloria Anzaldúa.” Letras Femeninas. 38.2 (2012): 9-27.

Dahms, Betsy.“Es mucho hombre esta mujer: Una lectura Queer de Teresa en Sab.” Retomando la palabra: las pioneras del diecinueve en diálogo con la crítica contemporánea. Eds. Claire Martin and Nelly Goswitz. Madrid: Iberoamericana/Vervuert, 2012.165

Dahms, Betsy. “Self-destructive embodiment of the “Joto Body” in Rigoberto González’s ‘The Abortionist’s Lover.’” Divergencias: Revista de estudios lingüísticos y literarios. 9.2(2011): 16-24.*

Dahms, Betsy.“Staging Gender Trouble: Sabina Berman’s ‘The Mustache’” DisClosure, the University of Kentucky’s Social Theory Journal. (2011): 62-71.*

Dahms, Betsy. "Pussy for Life: Adherence and Deviance from the Dominican Masculine Code in Junot Díaz's Drown." MIFLC Review: Journal of the Mountain Interstate Foreign Language Conference. 14 (Fall 2007-08). 75-90.*

Daniels, Mary B. and Elizabeth Dahms. “A Case Study of Community-Based Learning: Centre College in Danville, Kentucky” ADFL Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. 2,3 (Winter/Spring 2008): 61-65.*