The Spaces In Between

About

Hi everyone! I am River (pronouns: they/them) and I am an advocate, educator, researcher, and writer. I was Assistant Professor and Chair of Women’s, Transgender, and Queer Studies at Wells College in upstate New York. Unfortunately, the college closed suddenly in June 2024. After a year of career exploration and job applications, I have started a new job at SUNY Cortland as the Assistant Director of Multicultural Life and Diversity. (All opinions on this blog are my own personal thoughts and do not reflect my employer.)

I hold a PhD (2016) and Master’s degree (2014) in Women’s Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park. Before my current job at SUNY and former position at Wells, I completed a post-doc in LGBTQ Studies at UMD (2016-2017), taught at Towson University as an adjunct (Fall 2017), and was a visiting professor at Amherst College (2018-2019), Dickinson College (2019-2020), and DePauw University (2020-2022).

My research focuses on lgbt/queer families and parenting gender-creative and transgender children. I am interested in how we think about children’s gender and sexuality, and also write about the “anticipation work” that parents’ engage in as they try to understand their children’s various expressions, identities, and possible futures. My dissertation was entitled “Life Uncharted: Parenting Trans, Gender-Creative, and Gay Children.” I am currently working on a project about LGBTQ summer camps, and the ways that they foster a sense of identity and community for both campers and counselors.

On this site you can find more information about my research, my publications, and teaching, as well as a list of LGBTQ Summer Camps that I update yearly.  There is also a blog portion, where you will find my writing on a variety of topics, including teaching, summer camps, and research. My writing often touches on the idea of “spaces in between” in relation to gender and sexuality, as well as cultural spaces, identities, age, life, and death. To read more about what I mean, check out this post.  I am also a poet, and often include my poetry and thoughts about writing here.

I grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and the rural landscapes and a childhood spent running around a 200 acre farm have greatly shaped my understanding of home, self, and community.  I appreciate that my teaching positions at Amherst, Dickinson, DePauw and Wells have given me the opportunity to live in rural areas again. With an English mother, and dual-citizenship with the UK, I also had a transatlantic childhood, and connect with the concept of being a “third culture kid” having grown up between two countries.

When I am not teaching, I love to forage for mushrooms, and wild plants in the woods, fields, and green spaces around the Fingerlakes, and to go hiking with my dog, Pippin, and partner, Indigo.

Thanks for stopping by!

A note on names: Many of my publications are under the name Jessica Ann Vooris, a name that I still have a fondness for because my middle name, “Ann,” is my Grandma’s name. However, my full legal name increasingly feels uncomfortable given my gender. I have also published under Jess River Vooris, and am currently going by River Hunter Vooris. (Hunter is my Grandma’s maiden name–so I can still honor her in that way!)