Sharra Vostral, Associate Professor
Contact Information
911 S. Sixth Street
Champaign, IL 61821
Phone: 217-265-0961
Email: vostral@illinois.edu
About
Sharra Vostral is an Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and History. Her research centers upon the history of technology in relation to gender and women’s bodies and the ways in which material artifacts function in people’s everyday lives.
Education
- 2000: Ph.D., Washington University, History
- 1994: M.A., Washington University, History
- 1992: M.A., St. Louis University, American Studies
- 1990: B.A., Honors in Comparative Studies in Religion
Academic Employment
- 2006 - Present: Assistant Professor, Gender and Women’s Studies and History
- 2002 - 2006: Assistant Professor, Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Director, Public Service Internship Program
Honors, Recognitions and Outstanding Achievements
- 2008: Fellow, Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership, UIUC
- 2008-2009: Fellow, Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, UIUC, "Producing an Epidemic: Rely Tampons, Toxic Shock Syndrome and Conflicting Disciplinary Expertise"
- 2008-2009: Fellow, iFoundry, The Illinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering Education, UIUC
Selected Publications
BOOKS
- Under Wraps: A History of Menstrual Hygiene Technology. Lexington, A Division of Rowman and Littlefield, 2008.
Edited Volume
- Feminist Technology, eds. Linda L. Layne, Sharra Vostral and Kate Boyer. Champaign: University of Illinois Press (accepted, 2009).
ARTICLES
- Vostral, S. with Deana McDonagh. "A Feminist Inventor's Studio" in Feminist Technology. Linda L. Layne, Sharra Vostral and Kate Boyer, eds. Champaign: University of Illinois Press (accepted, 2009).
- "Tampons: A Feminist Technology?" in Feminist Technology, eds. Linda L. Layne, Sharra Vostral and Kate Boyer. Champaign: University of Illinois Press (accepted, 2009).
- "Advice to Adolescents: Menstrual Health and Menstrual Education Films, 1946-1982," in Gender, Health and Popular Culture: Historical Perspectives, ed. Cheryl Warsh. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier Press (accepted, 2009).