Amanda Lock Swarr

Amanda Lock Swarr is a Professor and Chair of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington, with affiliations in African Studies. Her work critically examines queer, trans, and intersex studies, medical inequities, and feminist politics through the lens of colonialism, racism, and power structures.

• Education: PhD in Feminist Studies (University of Minnesota, 2003), MA in Anthropology (University of Minnesota), BA in Women's Studies (Bucknell University)

Swarr's research focuses on:

• Intersections of colonialism and gender/sex policing in Southern Africa
• Medical humanities and institutionalized violence against intersex and trans communities
• Transnational feminist collaborations and decolonial methodologies
• Queer and feminist critiques of global power dynamics

Her publications analyze colonial legacies in intersex medicine, transnational activism, and post-apartheid gender politics. Recent work includes a monograph on African intersex activism (2023) and co-edited anthologies on transnational feminism (2010) and intersex issues (2022).

Swarr has received prestigious awards including:

• Bonnie & Vern Bullough Book Award (2024)
• DSREI Professional Book Award (2024)
• UW Distinguished Teaching Award (2019)
• Sylvia Rivera Prize in Transgender Studies (2012)

She supervises graduate students and contributes to editorial work in Feminist Studies and Transgender Studies Quarterly. Her current research explores intersex autonomy in African contexts and challenges to colonial medical frameworks.