Jennifer Hites-Thomas

Jennifer Hites-Thomas serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the State University of New York at Oswego. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Simon Fraser University (2021).

Her educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Sociology, Simon Fraser University, 2021

Dr. Hites-Thomas investigates how medical discourse constructs normative categories of gender, race, and binary sex through frameworks of cisnormativity and racialization. Her research critically examines transgender healthcare gatekeeping versus cisgender medical enablement (e.g., augmentation phalloplasty), the cultural production of medical knowledge, and current work comparing endosex/intersex diagnostic pathways. Specialization areas include cisgender studies, anti-racist feminism, and feminist science and technology studies.

Publication trends reveal consistent focus on medical authority's role in bodily governance, with recurring themes of somatechnics, ethical body modification, and trans-positive clinical practice. Her work bridges sociological theory with critical medical humanities through analysis of surgical transition ethics and sex assignment protocols.

Teaching responsibilities encompass Introductory Sociology, Sociology of Gender, Race and Minorities, and specialized courses including Sociology of Medicine, Cisgender/Binary Sex/Race Studies, and Endosex Studies.