Simone Chess

Simone Chess is an Associate Professor of English and Director of the Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies Program at Wayne State University, Detroit. She also leads the Center for Gender and Sexuality. Her work focuses on queer/trans studies, disability studies, and early modern British literature. Key roles include editing a special issue on 'Early Modern Trans Studies' (2019) and co-managing the Warrior Women Project digital archive. Awards include the 2024 Wayne State President’s Teaching Excellence Award and 2018 Diversity Champions honor.

Her research explores crossdressing in early modern texts, gender performance, and intersections of disability/queerness. Notable publications include Male-to-Female Crossdressing in Early Modern English Literature (2016) and articles on topics like 'queer residue' in theatrical labor, asexuality in Renaissance texts, and adaptive technologies. Current projects include a Shakespeare/trans culture monograph and a disability-queer technologies study.

Teaching includes courses on Shakespeare, women’s studies, and pedagogical strategies. She actively collaborates on digital humanities projects and has received multiple teaching awards. Her work bridges literary analysis with social justice advocacy, focusing on marginalized identities in early modern contexts.