Melissa K. Houghtaling

B.A. Psychology, B.A. Sociology (Millersville), M.A. (Lancaster) 
Ph.D. Candidate

Research Interests

Sexualities and sexuality theory; queer theory; existentialism; phenomenology; feminist theories; feminist science studies; philosophy of science; ontology and epistemology; ethics; research methodology.

Doctoral Research

Envisioned as a contribution to theory, my doctoral research explores a novel approach to sexuality that is premised on the principles of existentialism and phenomenology. Contemporary heteronormative discourse, I argue, has supplanted sexuality with notions of sexual orientation and sexual identity, limiting ideas about sexuality and sexual desire to sex/gender preference. Drawing from the works of Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, I utilize an ontology of becoming to explore the phenomena of sexuality. In doing so, I illuminate the dialectical relationship between personal self and bodily self and underscore the significance of time to sexual being. I also pay particular attention to the very materiality that stimulates and contributes to the sensuality of sexual experiences. This dissertation challenges common and often taken-for-granted assumptions about sex and sexual difference, reconsiders the purpose of contemporary sexual identities, and urges both the exploration and celebration of the polymorphous nature of sex and desire.

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Education

Queen’s University. Kingston, ON Canada
PhD, Sociology (expected completion: summer 2012)

University of Lancaster (UK) at the Centre for Social Studies. Warsaw, Poland
M.A., Sociology: Society and Politics (2005)

Millersville University of Pennsylvania. Millersville, PA USA
B.A., Psychology (2003)
B.A., Sociology (2003)

 

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