Yetta Howard

Yetta Howard serves as Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at San Diego State University, where they lead both academic instruction and graduate program administration.

Howard's educational foundation includes a Ph.D. in English (2010) and Certificate in Gender Studies (2010) from the University of Southern California, an M.A. in English from USC (2005), an M.A. in English from Mills College (2002), a Certificate in Professional Editing from UC Berkeley (2002), and a B.A. in English from Boston University (1998).

Specializing in sexuality studies and queer theory, Howard's research examines cultural histories of gender and feminism through visual, auditory, and corporeal forms, with particular focus on experimental and avant-garde approaches to 20th- and 21st-century minoritarian arts. Their interdisciplinary work spans cinematic, sonic, graphic, performance-based, and bodily phenomena, often exploring underground cultural expressions.

Howard is the author of Ugly Differences: Queer Female Sexuality in the Underground (University of Illinois Press, 2018) and editor of Rated RX: Sheree Rose with and after Bob Flanagan (The Ohio State University Press, 2020), with scholarly contributions appearing in TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly, Social Text, Women & Performance, and American Literature. Current research includes the book project "Erratic Erotics: Analog - Sexualities - Mortalities."

As Director of Graduate Studies, Howard oversees the department's graduate program and advises students. Their artistic practice as a photographer—exhibited at venues including Oceanside Museum of Art, Gallery 21 in Balboa Park, and Arc Gallery—complements academic work through explorations of visual culture and bodily phenomena.