Barbara Baumgartner

Barbara Baumgartner is a Teaching Professor Emerita and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. She holds a PhD in English from Northwestern University and a Bachelors of Science in Nursing from DePauw University. Her research examines representations of women’s bodies in 19th-century medical texts and literature, integrating her nursing background with literary analysis. She teaches courses on American women’s literature, medical history, women’s health, and gender studies.

Her interdisciplinary work bridges literature and medicine, reflecting decades of nursing experience in pediatric neurosurgery and outpatient care. Courses include Introduction to Women & Gender Studies, Scribbling Women: 19th-Century American Women Authors, and service-learning initiatives like Women in Prison. She co-teaches History of Women in Science and Women in Science: Contemporary Issues.

No specific scientific awards or grants are listed in the provided information. Her professional service includes directing undergraduate studies in WGSS and contributing to campus initiatives on gender and health.