Dana Ahern

Dr. Dana Ahern is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of South Florida (USF), within the College of Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on the technological development and utilization of transgender medicine in the US and Eastern Europe, leveraging digital archives and oral histories. He holds a PhD in Feminist Studies from UC Santa Cruz (2022), with a Designated Emphasis in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, and has held academic positions including a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Education:

• PhD in Feminist Studies, UC Santa Cruz (2022)
• MA in Gender and Cultural Studies, Simmons University (2015)
• BA in Anthropology and Gender & Women’s Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2012)

Research Interests: Dana’s work bridges queer/trans studies, disability studies, and feminist science and technology studies. He examines intersections of medicine, state policies, and post-socialist histories, with a focus on transnational healthcare frameworks. His teaching emphasizes critical race theory and experiential knowledge in queer pedagogy.

Awards:

• 2021-2022 President’s Dissertation Fellowship
• 2020 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award (UCSC)
• Lionel Cantú Memorial Award (2017)

Teaching & Service: Dana has taught at Hampshire College, UNR, and UCSC, designing courses on queer theory, medicine and power, and revolutionary healthcare. His service includes roles as a Program Assistant for the Baskin Feminist Scholars Program and Graduate Research Assistant to Felicity Amaya Schaeffer.

Labs/Teams: Engaged with interdisciplinary research networks in feminist science studies and post-socialist queer histories.