Faculty

Dr. Karen Blair has been a professor of history at Central Washington University since 1987, specializing in the area of U.S. Women's History and U.S. Family History. She has published on the topics of Pacific Northwest Women and the history of women's voluntary associations. Her B.A. degree is from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees were conferred at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Travel is her pastime, both in the United States and in India, China, Japan and Europe.

Cynthia Coe earned her B.A. in philosophy from Middlebury College and her Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Oregon (2000). She has taught in the philosophy department at CWU since 2003. Her research interests include feminist theory, post-Kantian Continental philosophy, radical ethics, social and political philosophy, and philosophy of history. When she's not teaching or writing, she enjoys ironing, painting her toenails, making clothes for her daughter's Barbie dolls, and keeping up with the zany hijinks on "Days of Our Lives."

Jen Krafchick joined the CWU faculty in 2007. She has a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Education with Human Development and Family Studies - specializing in social justice education (2007), a M.S. is in Couple and Family Therapy- specializing in feminist family therapy (2003), and a Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies (2004) from Colorado State University. Jen also has a B.S. in Psychology from Drexel University. Prior to going back to graduate school, Jen spent two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Solomon Islands, South Pacific. Professionally she has spent many years providing therapy and advocacy to survivors of sexual assault and domestic/dating violence. Jen teaches human sexuality, sexuality education, and other courses about family and relationships (FCSF courses) and directs the CWU Family Resource Center. When not working, Jen has fun with her own family of feminists.

Lene Pedersen earned her B.A. from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, with a double major in Anthropology and Foreign Languages, and her Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from the University of Southern California (2002). A Danish national, who grew up in East Africa and later made her home in a cabin in Alaska, she now pursues research in Indonesia on a number of topics. Gender and global feminist theory are important considerations in her work. She teaches "Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective" for the Women Studies program and has co-presented with students on gender and sexuality issues at the annual CWU Gender Symposia. She also organizes the annual CWU Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival and is on the board of the Ellensburg Film Festival, both of which always include exciting films on gender issues. When she is not teaching, writing, doing fieldwork, or watching films, she enjoys many activities in the outdoors, slow travel, and being in, on, or by water.

Megan Schmidt is a licensed clinical psychologist in the student counseling center and adjunct psychology professor for Psych of Women. She specializes in feminist psychology, sexual violence prevention, and research on the impact of pornography and prostitution.

Christine Sutphin earned her Ph.D. in English at the University of Oregon. Her teaching and research interests include women writers and feminist/gender theory; Victorian literature and culture (painting, illustration and visual popular culture); constructions of race and class in literature; the novel in English from the beginnings to the present. She is also interested in the study of interior decoration and gardens, feminist archaeology, and fairies and the supernatural in literature, art and popular culture.