Elisabeth Sheff received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Colorado and taught briefly at the University of Montana in Missoula prior to joining the faculty at Georgia State University in the Fall of 2004.
Dr. Sheff's specialty areas include sexuality, family, gender, deviance, and communities. These various topics combined in her past research on gender roles and family patterns in polyamorous communities (made up of people engaged in poly
amory , or openly conducted, non-monogamous relationships with sexual and/or emotional intimacy among several partners). Dr. Sheff is currently working on a study of overlapping sexual identities including practitioners of bondage, domination/discipl
ine, sadism/submission, and masochism (BDSM); fetishists (people who eroticize objects); polyamorists; and swingers. Currently in its pilot stage, the project will culminate in an Internet survey seeking responses from these various practitioners regardin
g their norms, values, ethics, practices, degree of overlap between the four identities, and methods of negotiation.
In addition to her research on gender and family systems in deviant sexual sub-cultures, Dr. Sheff's past research includes gendered wage disparities, women's use of micro-lending institutions in developing nations, and utility customer attit
udes towards the use of rooftop, grid-tied, photovoltaic (solar electrical) cells. She has taught courses in sexuality, gender, families, introductory sociology, social theory, and research methods. |
