college of liberal arts
office of the dean
MEET THE DEAN
Janet Badia
Janet Badia is the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She served as director of the Women’s Studies Program from 2009-2021, when she left the position to become Dean of the newly formed College of Liberal Arts. Prior to joining the faculty at what was then IPFW, she was an associate professor of English at Marshall University in Huntington, WV.
She is the author of Sylvia Plath and the Mythology of Women Readers (2011) and co-editor of Reading Women: Literary Figures and Cultural Icons from the Victorian Age to the Present (2005), in addition to numerous journal articles and essays. Her research interests include women’s literature, feminist theory, the history of women’s reading, and the reception of American women’s writing since the 1950s.
In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, kayaking and hiking, and hanging out on her screened porch with her cats.
EDUCATION
Ph.D.: English Studies, The Ohio State University
M.A.: English Studies, The Ohio State University
B.A.: English literature, Wheeling Jesuit University (Wheeling, WV), summa cum laude
COURSES TAUGHT AT PURDUE FORT WAYNE
WOST 48000: Practicum in Women’s Studies
WOST 40000: Women’s Studies Capstone
WOST 30400: Feminist Theories
WOST 30200: Reproductive Bodies in the Literary Imagination
WOST 30200: Women’s Self-Portraits in Literature and Art
WOST 30200: Narratives of Trauma and Recovery in 20th C. U.S. Women’s Literature
WOST 30200: Sylvia Plath
WOST 30200: Girl Culture in the U.S.
WOST 24000: Feminist Perspectives on Reproductive Justice
WOST 22500: Gender, Sexuality, Race, and Pop Culture
WOST 21000: Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies
IDIS 10605: Introduction to the Liberal Arts (course topic: eugenics)
