Dr. Evangeline (Vange) Heiliger is currently a Mellon Visiting Assistant Professor of Public Discourse in the Disciplines, in the American Studies Department at Smith College. Dr. Heiliger was most recently a Visiting Assistant Professor of LGBT/Queer Studies and Gender & Global Public Health at Oberlin College. Dr. Heiliger is a feminist and queer epistemologist and methodologist driven by anti-racist, class-conscious, critical disability, and environmental-justice informed questions about what marginalized people do to survive and thrive. Dr. Heiliger is an expert on transnational green, queer, and alternative economies that originate in the Americas and circulate locally and globally.
Dr. Heiliger has approached the interdisciplinary question of “what do marginalized people do to survive and thrive?” in several specific ways since 2000:
- Writing a manuscript that argues contemporary American ethical consumerism–that is, the idea that we can shop our way to a better world– is a logical outcome of centuries-old transnational American practices of nation-building that utilized legal, social, and economic discrimination along lines of: race; ethnicity; religion; gender identity and expression; sex; disability; immigration status; language; region; and class. Further, the queerly creative social and economic solutions designed by marginalized people impacted by these discriminatory policies have driven and supported broader social, economic, and environmental justice movements in the US, creating the conditions for a mass acceptance of and engagement with transnational American ethical consumerism between 2005-2008. This book is under contract with the University of Washington Press.
- Producing a doctoral research project investigating how contemporary transnational American ethical consumerism–that is, the idea that you can shop your way to a better world– reproduces gender, race, sexuality, and global economic justice concerns through the examples of Product (Red)TM and Café Femenino®. Dissertation: Shopping Our Way to a Better World? Redefining Gender, Sexuality, and Moral Citizenship Under Ethical Consumerism.
- As a consultant-participant with expertise on gender and environment in mountain communities for the Mountain Shepherds Initiative’s community-owned eco-tourism venture in the Indian Himalayas in 2006.
- Completing a master’s degree on women’s organic fair trade coffee production in the Americas with exam fields covering a) feminist / critical development studies; b) queer / feminist / critical geographies; c) queer / feminist / critical political economics; d) sustainable agriculture, ecotourism, and environmental justice; e) organic and fair trade coffee in the Americas; and f) transnational feminist and queer theories / methodologies.
- As an independent researcher in Aotearoa/New Zealand for the International Planned Parenthood Federation and New Zealand Family Planning Association in 2001. Research projects: 1) Women and HIV-AIDS in Aotearoa/New Zealand, the Pacific Region, and the World; and 2) Men and Vasectomy in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
- Pursuing a BA Honours degree (a graduate degree specific to the British educational system) requiring research knowledge in medicine; HIV-AIDS; reproductive justice; gender/race/sexuality and imperialism; race, disability, deviance, and sterilization. Thesis: On the Cutting Edge? Men and Vasectomy in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
- Completing a BA in The Study of Women and Gender (visual culture; reproductive and sexual health) and the History of Science (gendered history, science, and math; gender and ancient inventions, with a specific focus on warp-weighted looms).
Dr. Heiliger is available for speaking engagements as well as consulting and research projects. Please use the contact form for inquiries.
Pronouns: She/her/hers or They/them/theirs; no pronouns are preferred in classroom settings with undergraduates.