Lisa Huebner Ruchti, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies

I am passionate about my research and teaching, which center on the sociology of gender and transnational feminist theories. In my current scholarship, I conducted ethnographic research and intersectional analyses to explain intimacy at work. I am finishing a book manuscript entitled Catheters, Slurs, and Pick Up Lines: Professional Intimacy in Hospital Nursing. In it I introduce the concept “professional intimacy” to show how nurses negotiate care as part of social and economic life and how “being caring” changes according to the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and nationality. I argue that intimate care is a form of professional labor that can and should be taught in nursing schools and reinforced at work through collective strategies.

I have published on sexual harassment in the workplace and have presented on immigration, care ethics, intersectionality theory, and transnational feminisms. I currently teach Sociology of Gender; Gender, Labor, and Globalization; Feminist Theory; and Introduction to Women’s Studies. I have a Ph.D. in Sociology with a certificate in Women’s Studies from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. in Women’s Studies from the University of Cincinnati.

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)