Eli Williams

Eli Williams is a Graduate Associate at the Notre Dame Learning | Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame. Her research focuses primarily on gender, sexuality, and social movements. Eli’s 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. Last year, she served as a teaching apprentice in Notre Dame’s Gender Studies Program.

Before beginning graduate school, Eli graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Smith College as a study of women and gender major. She earned a master’s in leadership studies from Meadville Lombard Theological School, a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago. She also served as Executive Director of The LGBTQ Center in South Bend, leading the organization through a pivotal moment of transformation.