Research Interests
Transnational Gender and Sexualities, Race and Ethnicity, Queer Theory, Queer of Color Critique, Urban Studies, Feminist Theory and Methods, Transnational Mobility, Affect and Emotions, Empire, Qualitative and Interpretive Methods.
Education
Ph.D., Rutgers University
Grants
Multiracial Democracy Grant, University of Illinois, 2018
Awards and Honors
Academic Honors, Fellowships and Awards
Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS) Distinguished Feminist Lecturer Award, 2024
Helen Corley Petit Scholar, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, 2022-23
Sociology of Sexualities’ Early Career Award, American Sociological
Association, 2022
Campus Distinguished Promotion Award, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, 2022
Sexual Behavior, Politics, and Community Division’s Outstanding Article Award, Society for the Study of Social Problems, 2022
National Women's Studies Association’s Gloria E. Anzaldúa Book Prize, 2021
Sociology of Sexualities 2021 Distinguished Book Award, American Sociological Association
Lincoln Excellence for Assistant Professors (LEAP) Scholar 2019-21
Honorable Mention for the 2020 Global and Transnational Sociology, Best Scholarly Article Award, American Sociological Association
Faculty Fellow at the Illinois Program for Research on the Humanities 2019-20
Humanities Release Time, University of Illinois, 2018-19
Honorable Mention for Best Faculty Research, Institute for Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, 2018
Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellowship in Women’s Studies, 2014
Graduate Fellowship at the Institute for Research on Women at Rutgers University, 2014-15
Teaching Honors and Awards
Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2023
GWS Outstanding Faculty Award 2020-21
GWS Outstanding Faculty Award 2018-19
Faculty Partner in Excellence Award, LGBT Resource Center, University of Illinois, 2018
Teachers Ranked as Outstanding (Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Summer 2022, Fall 2023)
Teachers Ranked as Excellent, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign (Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Summer 2021, Winter 2021, Fall 2021, Winter 2023 )
Award for Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Education, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University, 2015
Harry C. Bredemeier Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Department of Sociology, Rutgers University, 2014
Courses Taught
GWS 201: Race, Gender, Power
GWS 202: Sexualities
SOC 101: Sociology of Gender
SOC 225: Race and Ethnicity
SOC 396: Sexuality and Society
GWS 580: Queer Theories & Methods
SOC 510: Professionalization Seminar
SOC 510: Teaching Practicum
SOC 596/GWS 590: Gender, Race, Sexuality
SOC 596: Gender and Sexuality
SOC 596/GWS 590: Power, Coloniality, Empire
SOC 590: Masculinities, Modernities, and Neoliberalism
Additional Campus Affiliations
Associate Professor, Gender and Women's Studies
Associate Professor, Sociology
Director of Graduate Studies, Sociology
Associate Professor, Anthropology
Associate Professor, Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory
Associate Professor, Center for Global Studies
Associate Professor, Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
External Links
Honors & Awards
Academic Honors, Fellowships and Awards
Helen Corley Petit Scholar, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, 2022-23
Sociology of Sexualities’ Early Career Award, American Sociological
Association, 2022
Campus Distinguished Promotion Award, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, 2022
Sexual Behavior, Politics, and Community Division’s Outstanding Article Award, Society for the Study of Social Problems, 2022
National Women's Studies Association’s Gloria E. Anzaldúa Book Prize, 2021
Sociology of Sexualities 2021 Distinguished Book Award, American Sociological Association
Lincoln Excellence for Assistant Professors (LEAP) Scholar 2019-21
Honorable Mention for the 2020 Global and Transnational Sociology, Best Scholarly Article Award, American Sociological Association
Faculty Fellow at the Illinois Program for Research on the Humanities 2019-20
Humanities Release Time, University of Illinois, 2018-19
Honorable Mention for Best Faculty Research, Institute for Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, 2018
Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellowship in Women’s Studies, 2014
Graduate Fellowship at the Institute for Research on Women at Rutgers University, 2014-15
Teaching Honors and Awards
Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2023
GWS Outstanding Faculty Award 2020-21
GWS Outstanding Faculty Award 2018-19
Faculty Partner in Excellence Award, LGBT Resource Center, University of Illinois, 2018
Teachers Ranked as Excellent, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign (Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018-rated as outstanding, Spring 2019-rated as outstanding, Fall 2020-rated as outstanding, Spring 2021, Summer 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022 )
Award for Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Education, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University, 2015
Harry C. Bredemeier Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Department of Sociology, Rutgers University, 2014
Highlighted Publications
Moussawi, G. (2020). Disruptive Situations: Fractal Orientalism and Queer Strategies in Beirut. (Sexuality Studies). Temple University Press.
Recent Publications
Avalos, M., & Moussawi, G. (2023). (Re)framing the Emerging Mobility Regime at the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands: Covid-19, Temporality, and Racial Capitalism. Mobilities, 18(3), 408-424. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450101.2022.2109986
Moussawi, G. (2023). Centering region and multi-scalar lenses. In M. Romero (Ed.), Research Handbook on Intersectionality (pp. 433-457). (Research Handbooks in Sociology). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800378056.00041
Moussawi, G. (2023). “Constellations as Queer Formations: Ephemeral Geographies and Queer Liberation.”. Society and Space.
Moussawi, G. (2023). In Defense of Specters: Ambivalent Mourning as Queer Affect. Feminist Formations, 34(3), 82-105. https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/877733
Moussawi, G. (2023). Queer brands, branding queerness: Fractal orientalism and selling gay-friendly beirut. In Branding the Middle East: Communication Strategies and Image Building from Qom to Casablanca (pp. 291-299). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110741100-017