Gender and equity faculty
Each module of the Gender and Equity Certificate is taught by an expert in the field from Florida Atlantic University. Meet the instructors:
Jill Rubin was the Women and Gender Coordinator, Sexual Health Specialist for Owls Care Health Promotion at Florida Atlantic University (FAU). She oversaw the Women and Gender Equity Resource Center and has taught classes on Feminisms in the Global South, Women's Studies, and Sexual Health. Jill is also a proud FAU Alumni, having received her M.A. here from the Center for Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
Jeanette Coleman served in the Air Force for 22 years and retired in 2003. Currently, she teaches English Composition and Literature at Broward College and teaches Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies classes at Florida Atlantic University. Jeanette is the mother of one daughter, four grandchildren, and 4 great grandchildren.
Jane Caputi, PhD, is a Professor of Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies at Florida Atlantic University. At FAU, she has won the Distinguished Teacher Award (2001) and Research of the Year for Scholarly Activities, Professor level (2005 and 2013). In 2016, the Popular Culture Association named her the Eminent Scholar of the Year and in 2020 the Association for the Study of Women in Mythology gave her their annual Saga Award for contributions to women’s history and culture.
Zakaria Herzlich is a WGSS MA alum whose research interests lie in the psychology of gender and gender roles in society, especially trans studies, trans representation, and trans healthcare access. As a grad student, she interned in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work, where she helped design trainings for different organizations to be equitable and inclusive through a gendered-lens. Currently, she is working for a non-profit organization in Seattle, WA, as the Senior Manager for Organizational Equity and Inclusion, where she utilizes a Gender and Equity lens to facilitate DEI work at the professional level.
Cassiopeia Mulholland is a trans girl who got her master's in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from FAU. Her thesis used speculative fiction to theorize on the way society treats trans people, especially BIPOC trans people. More broadly, her research interests include queer and trans studies, postmodern and poststructural philosophy, and science fiction/fantasy literature. She is a writer who embraces a politics of intersectional liberation rather than efforts to simply reform existing systems of oppression.
Nicole Erin Morse, PhD, is an assistant professor of multimedia studies and Director of the Center for Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at FAU. They study media production by trans people and teach courses on film and television with a focus on LGBTQ media.
Marquese McFerguson, PhD, is an assistant professor of Intercultural Communication at Florida Atlantic University. His award-winning research examines hip hop culture, black masculinity and contemporary black popular culture. In 2020, he was the recipient of the Art Bochner outstanding doctoral research scholar award from the University of South Florida. Dr. McFerguson is also an also award-winning slam poet and teaching artist who has performed at academic institutions and performance venues throughout the United States and the United Kingdom..
Josephine Beoku-Betts, PhD, is an internationally recognized, award-winning researcher and Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and a sociologist. She is a core faculty member at the Center for Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Florida Atlantic University and teaches global and transnational feminist and gender studies. Her courses include Women and Gender in the Global South, Women’s International Human Rights, Feminization of Poverty, and Women of Color in the United States.
Daniella Orias, M.A., graduated from the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program at Florida Atlantic University. She has taught the courses “Gender and Climate Change,” “Green Consciousness,” and "Sex, Myth, Power, and Popculture." Daniella recently published an article with Dr. Nicole Morse entitled “
No One is Disposable: Ecofeminism and Climate Crisis” in 2020 and published an article with Dr. Jane Caputi entitled “
Monoculture & Mono-woman: An Ecofeminist Critique” in the Undergraduate Research Journal in 2013.
Jasper Araujo is a recent FAU alum, having received a Bachelor of Arts in English and Master of Arts in Communications. He has been an activist his entire adult life, working for reproductive rights and voting rights organizations since 17 years old, and plans to continue working in community organizing..
Priscilla Renta teaches classes in decolonial feminism at Florida Atlantic University. She is a PhD Candidate in Comparative Studies at FAU and co-chair of the CAPS - Counseling and Psychological Services DEI - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative.
