Eli Williams

Cohort

2019

Subfields

Gender and Family, Political Sociology, Social Movements, Stratification and Inequality

Profile

Eli Williams is a PhD candidate in the department of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame. Her research focuses primarily on gender, sexuality, and social movements. Her dissertation explores chosen families among LGBTQ+ people. The project answers research questions about motivations, challenges and rewards, and political implications of chosen families. Eli is preparing a book manuscript about the lesbian history of South Bend, Indiana.  Before beginning graduate school, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Smith College as a Study of Women and Gender major.  She earned a Masters in Leadership Studies from Meadville Lombard Theological School, a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago.  Eli also served as Executive Director of The LGBTQ Center in South Bend, leading the organization through a pivotal moment of transformation. She is currently serving as a teaching apprentice in Notre Dame’s Gender Studies Program.