Five Questions with Tara Gonsalves
(September 2024)
For the third installment of our Five Questions Q&A series, we're happy to feature our newest faculty member, Tara Gonsalves. Tara recently joined the department as an Assistant Professor of Sociology. She completed her PhD at Berkeley in 2022 and became an assistant professor at Northwestern before joining us here at Columbia. In addition to organizing the Gender and Sexuality Workshop, she is leading the new Frontiers in Sociology Workshop -- a for-credit counterpart to the department's Frontiers in Sociology Colloquium Series. We're thrilled to have her with us in New York City!
To get to know Tara a bit better, see her answers to our questions below.
1. What research projects are you currently working on?
I am working on a book project that examines how the category of "transgender" is coming to articulate gender variance globally. In another project, I'm studying how health insurance companies adjudicate coverage for conditions that have been the subjects of political controversy over the past two decades, including gender-affirming care and fertility treatments. I have a couple papers that have been published or are under review based on some of the initial research and I plan to expand this project in the future. I also have a few other collaborative pieces I’m working on with colleagues and current and former students. I’m particularly excited about a theoretical paper I am co-authoring that examines how self-identified gender and assigned gender work in different institutional contexts. I’m working on that paper with a few excellent graduate students at Northwestern.
2. What is one piece of research that really inspired you (either recently or as a student)? How did it influence your scholarly imagination?
I'm tempted to list all of the sociologists at Columbia (and Berkeley!). But seriously, there are too many to choose from. The first time I read Ian Hacking's "Making up People," it felt like a lightbulb clicked. Chandra Mohanty’s work on international feminist movements has been a source of inspiration for a long time. I recently read and enjoyed Kadji Amin’s essay titled “We are All Non-Binary: A History of Accidents.”
3. If you weren't a sociologist, what would be your career?
Speaking of hard questions…I might be one of the “gender experts” that I am writing about in my book project – someone who works on gender and sexuality issues at an international organization.
4. What is the last song you listened to?
The last song I listened to was Alicia Keys’ Girl on Fire. It’s my three-year-old’s favorite song right now and is on repeat in my apartment.
5. What are you looking forward to doing in New York City that you could not do in Evanston or Chicago?
So many things…I've enjoyed walking and taking the train (not driving!) and spending time with loved ones nearby. Bagels! Pizza! Riverside Park! The list goes on…
Thanks, Tara! Welcome to the department!