Male historian tapped to lead Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Kansas

The Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies has been the result of women calling for their own area of study. Now, the department that celebrates and studies women is being run by a man.

Nicholas Syrett, who previously taught for 11 years in the History Department at the University of Northern Colorado, is the new chair of the WGSS department. Based on his previous roles, has brought a great deal of experience with him.

As WGSS chair, Syrett will manage and coordinate the different classes and ensure that the students receive the full spectrum of classes offered.

“I am mostly trained as a historian, but a historian of women, gender and sexuality.” Syrett said, “But I was the women’s historian in that department, so it’s a little different in that I taught women and gender almost exclusively from a historical perspective.”

Syrett earned his Bachelor’s in Women’s and Gender Studies at Columbia University and earned his Ph.D in American Culture at the University of Michigan. He has written two books related to his degrees: 2009's "The Company He Keeps: A History of White College Fraternities" and 2016's "American Child Bride: A History of Minors and Marriage in the United States." 

Along with these publications, Syrett said he conducted a great amount of research in the studies of sexuality and gender and published multiple essays dealing with homosexual history and genders. ...