Ryan Lee Cartwright

Ryan Lee Cartwright is Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of California, Davis, where he contributes to interdisciplinary scholarship on marginality, identity, and space. He is affiliated with the graduate groups in Cultural Studies and Performance Studies, and holds a Designated Emphasis in Feminist Theory and Research. Cartwright also coordinates the Disability and Social In/Justice research cluster under the Digital Humanities Initiative (DHI).

• PhD in American Studies, University of Minnesota

His research interrogates the intersections of disability, gender, and sexuality, particularly within rural and spatial contexts of the United States. Cartwright's work traces how nonconformity has been historically racialized and pathologized, focusing on white rural communities from the 1910s to the 1990s. He also explores how chronic illness became framed as a gendered, racialized social burden in 20th-century America. His scholarship bridges cultural analysis, historical methodology, and critical theory.

The available publication, Peculiar Places (2021), exemplifies a trend in his work that combines queer theory, crip theory, and spatial analysis to recover marginalized histories. His research is deeply interdisciplinary, drawing from American cultural history, disability justice, and feminist epistemologies, and often engages with public-facing historical projects.

His scholarly work has been supported by major funding bodies including the ACLS, NEH, Smithsonian Institution, American Philosophical Society, and the Hellman Family Foundation. While no specific students are listed, his role as a graduate faculty member in multiple programs indicates active mentorship and advising responsibilities.

Cartwright previously served as associate editor of MNopedia, a digital encyclopedia of Minnesota history, reflecting his commitment to public history and accessible scholarship. He continues to contribute to collaborative research environments through his leadership in the DHI’s Disability and Social In/Justice cluster.