Heather R. Hlavka, PhD
Professor
(She/Her/Hers)
Sociology, Socio-Legal Studies
Gender & Intersectionality
Sexual Violence, Trauma, Healing
Narrative & Discourse Analysis
Feminist Qualitative Methods & Embodiment
Restorative & Transformative Justice
Science & Technology Studies
About
As a feminist socio-legal scholar, my research on gender violence and intersectionality is informed by trauma-informed methods and survivor-led ethics. I am interested in the cultural and socio-legal responses to sexual violence, the discursive influences that contribute to a culture of gendered and racialized violence and control, and how medico-legal systems, science, and technology contribute to and reproduce these violences. This work has informed my commitments to the transformative possibilities for justice and healing outside of the carceral state.
I began my work on gender violence as a first-generation college student, activist, and sexual violence advocate. My research is deeply informed by my work in rape crisis counseling and response, group facilitation, and community education. I seek to extend research on racialized-gender violence with a commitment to engaged scholarship that works to bridge research, theory, and practice through a critical carceral lens. I have published on child sexual violence, language and discourse, courtroom and cultural narratives of rape, science, and technology in sexual assault adjudication, and embodied feminist research methodology and ethics in academic journals and books, research reports, white-papers, and media/press.
https://www.marquette.edu/social-cultural-sciences/directory/heather-hlavka.php
https://thesocietypages.org/midwest/posts/meet-the-midwest-a-conversation-with-dr-hlavka/
Education
Research & Teaching Interests
Certificates
June 2023- May 2024
August 2021
Restorative Practices Training, Marquette University
Circles Training & Restorative Justice, Andrew Center for Restorative Justice
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Embodied Social Justice, 50-hour certification program.
Concentration: Embodiment and unjust social conditions; oppression and social justice work; community change grounded in responsive, collective, and sustainable strategies. Integrative embodied practices and methods.
Ph.D. Sociology
May 2008
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Concentration: Criminology and Law Studies
Minor concentrations: Social Psychology/ Women and Gender Studies
The Trouble with Telling: Children's Constructions of Sexual Abuse. Ph.D. dissertation
B.A. Sociology
May 1998
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Concentration: Criminology and Law Studies
Minor concentrations: Psychology, Women and Gender Studies
Research and Teaching Interests
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Gender & intersectionality, sexual & interpersonal violence, trauma, socio-legal studies, children & youth, legal subjectivity, science and technology studies, discourse and narrative analysis, qualitative feminist research methods, embodiment and transformative justice
Positions Held
Associate Professor
2016 - 2022
Department of Social and Cultural Sciences
Criminology and Law Studies
Marquette University
Milwaukee, WI
Professor
2023 - current
Co-Chair, Social Action Committee
2021 - 2024
Social Action Committee, Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS)
On-Call Advocate
Crisis Intervention
2016 - current
Sexual Violence Advocacy Network
Marquette University
Milwaukee, WI
Associate Fellow
2022 - current
Sexual Harms and Medical Encounters (SHaME) is a research project exploring the role of medicine and psychiatry in sexual violence - moving beyond shame.
Expert Witness
Consultant
Current
Sexual Violence, Trauma, Systems
Discourse and Narrative Analysis/Language
Qualitative Research Design/Ethics
Assistant Professor
2008 - 2016
Department of Social and Cultural Sciences
Criminology and Law Studies
Marquette University
Milwaukee, WI
Graduate Fellowship
2007 - 2008
College of Liberal Arts
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN
Instructor &
Research Assistant
2003-2007
Department of Sociology
University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN
Group Facilitation
On-call Crisis Intervention
2003 - 2007
Neighborhood Involvement Program (NIP)
Rape & Sexual Abuse Center
Minneapolis, MN
Paralegal
1998 - 2001
McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen, LLP
Environmental Litigation
Los Angeles, CA
Peer/Community Advocate
On-call Crisis Intervention
1996 - 1998
The Aurora Center
(formally Sexual Violence Program)
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN
Affiliated Positions Held
2023-2024 Research Fellow Institute for Women's Leadership (IWL)
2021-2024 Co-Chair Social Action Committee, Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS)
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2022 – present Associate Research Fellow Sexual Harm and Medical Encounters
(SHaME), University of London
2017 – present Affiliated Faculty &
Faculty Advisory Board Institute for Women's Leadership (IWL)
2017 – present Faculty Advisory Board Center for Urban Research, Teaching, and
Outreach (CURTO)
2015 - present On-call Advocate Marquette University Sexual Assault
Advocacy Network
2015 - present Faculty Mentor/Member First Gen Network, Marquette University
Heather Hlavka Sameena Mulla
New York University Press, 2021
30% Discount Code: BodiesinEvidence30-FM
Bodies in Evidence draws on observations of over 680 court appearances in Milwaukee County’s felony sexual assault courts, and interviews with judges, attorneys, forensic scientists, jurors, sexual assault nurse examiners, and victim advocates. It shows how forensic science helps to propagate public misunderstandings of sexual violence by bestowing an aura of authority to race and gender stereotypes and inequalities. The court’s reliance on the presence of forensic evidence infuses these very familiar stereotypes and myths about sexual assault with new scientific authority. These expert narratives intersect with the stories of victims, witnesses, and their communities to reproduce our cultural understandings of sexual violence, but too often this process results in reinscribing racial, gendered, and class inequalities.
Select Publications
2023
Hennessy Garza, R., Cho, Y, Hlavka, H., Weinhardt, L., Yasin, T., Smith, S., Adler, K., Otto, K., and Florsheim, P. 2022. “A Multi-Topic Bystander Intervention Program for Upper-Level Undergraduate Students: Outcomes in Sexual Violence, Racism, and High-Risk Alcohol Situations.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence. on-line
Petillo, April and Heather R. Hlavka (Eds).
Researching Gender-based Violence: Embodied and Intersectional Approaches. New York University Press.
Hlavka, Heather and Sameena Mulla. Bodies in Evidence: Race, Gender, and Science in Sexual Assault Adjudication. New York University Press.
Winner of the American Ethnological Society (AES) Senior Book Award; Association of Feminist Anthropology (AFA) Senior Book Award, Honorable Mention; and Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2022
Powell, Amber Joy, Sameena Mulla, and Heather R. Hlavka. "Intersectionality in the Courts: Collaborative Feminist Ethnography of Sexual Assault Adjudication." In Petillo and Hlavka (Eds) Researching Gender-based Violence: Embodied and Intersectional Approaches. New York University Press.
Petillo, April and Heather R. Hlavka. "Embodied and Entangled: Addressing the Methodological Challenges of Feminist Gender Violence Research." In Petillo and Hlavka (Eds) Researching Gender-based Violence: Embodied and Intersectional Approaches. New York University Press.
Hlavka, Heather and Sameena Mulla. 2020. “Thinking Forensically: Law, Medicine, and the Nomos of Sexual Violence” Pages 232-254 in the Research Handbook of Law, Medicine and Society, Jacobs and Kirkland, eds., Edward Elgar Publishing.
https://doi.org/10.4337/9781786437983
Hlavka, Heather. 2019. “Regulating Bodies: Children and Sexual Violence.” Violence Against Women. 25(6): 1956-1979. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801219875817
Hlavka, Heather and Sameena Mulla. 2018. “That’s How She Talks”: Animating Text Message Evidence in the Sexual Assault Trial.” Law & Society Review. 52(2): 401-435.
https://doi.org/10.1111/lasr.12340
2022
Hlavka, Heather. 2017. “Speaking of Stigma and the Silence of Shame: Young Men and Sexual Victimization.” Men and Masculinities. 20(4): 482-505. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X16652656
*Reproduction: ChildFirst™ – state and international training programs
Powell, Amber Joy, Heather Hlavka, and Sameena Mulla. 2017. “Intersectionality and Credibility in Child Sexual Assault Trials.” Gender & Society. 31(4): 457-480. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243217716116
Hlavka, Heather, Darren Wheelock, and Jennifer Cossyleon. 2015. “Narratives of Commitment: Looking for Work with a Criminal Record.” The Sociological Quarterly. 56: 213 - 236.
https://doi.org/10.1111/tsq.12086
2022
Hlavka, Heather. 2014. “Normalizing Sexual Violence: Young Women Account for Harassment and Abuse.” Gender & Society 28:337-358. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243214526468
**Reproduction: Gender Through the Prism of Difference. 5th Edition. 2015. Edited by Maxine Baca Zinn, Pierretted Hondagneu-Sotelo, Michael Messner, and Amy Denissen. Oxford University Press.
Hlavka, Heather. 2013. “Legal Subjectivity among Youth Victims of Sexual Abuse.” Law & Social Inquiry 39:31-61. https://doi.org/10.1111/lsi.12032
Mulla, Sameena and Heather Hlavka. 2011. “Gendered Violence and the Ethics of Social Science Research.” Violence Against Women 17:1509-1520. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801211436169
2020
Hlavka, Heather R., Sara D. Olinger and Jodi L. Lashley. 2010. “The Use of Anatomical Dolls as a Demonstration Aid in Child Sexual Abuse Interviews: A Study of Forensic Interviewers’ Perceptions.”
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse 19:519-553 https://doi.org/10.1080/10538712.2010.511988
**Reproductions: Gundersen’s National Child Protection Training Center
ChildFirst™ – state and international training programs
Hlavka, Heather R. 2010. “Child Sexual Abuse and Embodiment” Sociological Studies of Children and Youth 13:131-165. ISBN: 978-1-84950-734-9
Select Grants, Awards, Honors
Grants/Awards
2022 American Ethnological Society (AES) Senior Book Award for Bodies in Evidence
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2022 Association of Feminist Anthropology (AFA) Senior Book Award, Honorable Mention for Bodies in Evidence
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2022 Choice Outstanding Academic Title for Bodies in Evidence
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2022 Mellon Grant, Embodied Empowerment Collective (ECC), $10,000
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2021 Presidential Challenge Grant, Restorative Justice in Movement (RJM)
The Milwaukee Turners/Marquette University $49,000
2021 Institute for Women's Leadership (IWL), Restorative Justice in Movement (RJM), Marquette University $15,000
2020 Presidential Challenge Grant, When "Safer at Home" isn't Safe, Sojourner Family Peace Center/Marquette University $35,000
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2020 Curriculum Development, Transformative Justice, Center for Peacemaking, Marquette University. $2,500
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2020 Summer Research Institute, Marquette University $1,000
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2018 Civic Dialogue Faculty Leadership Program and Grant, Center for Teaching and Learning and the Center for Gender and Sexuality, 2018-2019, College of Arts and Sciences. $500
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2017 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute. “Diverse Philosophical Approaches to Sexual Violence.” $2,100
​
2016 Women’s International Study Center (WISC) In-Residence Writing Fellowship approx. $2,500
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2014 Gender and Sexuality Resource Center Faculty Grant. Marquette University. $2,000
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2014 Rynne Faculty Research Fellowship. “The Violence of the (Virtual) Word: The Role of Social Media and Communication Technology in Adjudicating Sexual Assault.” Center for Peacemaking. $1,400
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2013 National Science Foundation (NSF): Law and Social Sciences Supplemental Award for Research
Experiences for Undergraduates. $9,724 (total award, $109,766)
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2013 National Science Foundation (NSF): Law and Social Sciences Research Grant. Trace, Body, Voice: Sexual Assault Adjudication, $100,042
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2011 Faculty Forward Thinking-Jumpstart Grant. Marquette University. $1,000
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2011 Regular Research Grant. Marquette University. $9,965.00
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2011 Lilly Foundation Endowment: Scholarship of Engagement Faculty Learning Community. $1,000
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2009 Summer Faculty Fellowship. Marquette University. $5,000
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2009 Regular Research Grant. Marquette University. $5,500
2007 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. University of Minnesota Graduate School. $21,500
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2005 Anna Welsch Bright Research Fellowship. University of Minnesota. $3,000
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2004 Graduate Research Partnership Program. College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota. $5,000
Honors
2019 Featured research and teaching exercises: In the Classroom Teaching Module: Sexual Harassment Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS) https://gendersociety.wordpress.com/in-the-classroom-pedagogy-project/
2016 Sabbatical Fellowship Award, 2017-2018, Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
​
2014 Most downloaded paper. “Normalizing Sexual Violence: Young Women Account for Harassment and
Abuse.” Gender & Society. Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS)
​
2014 Excellence in Faculty Advising Awardee, College of Arts and Sciences. Marquette University
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2014 Faculty Research Award. Social and Cultural Sciences Department. Marquette University
​
2011 Best article award nominee and runner-up. “Gendered Violence and the Ethics of Social Science Research.” Journal of Violence Against Women
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2010, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2019 Excellence in Advising Award Nominee, College of Arts and Sciences. Marquette University
​
2007 Outstanding Graduate Instructor Award. Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota
University & College
Ronald E. McNair Program Mentor
MU4Gold Research Program Mentor
First Generation College Student Network Member and Mentor
Honors Mentorship Program Mentor
Sexual Violence Advocacy Network, Title IX & Safe Zone
Institute for Women's Leadership (IWL) Advisory Board Member
Center for Urban Research, Teaching, and Outreach (CURTO) Advisory Board Member
Faculty Hearing Committee (FHC)
Committee on Teaching (COT)
Steering Committee Member, Culturally Sensitive Research and Ethics, Office of Community Engagement
Faculty Hearing Committee Member
Title IX Task Force Committee Member
Center for Gender & Sexuality Studies (CGSS) Task Force Committee Member
Department of Social & Cultural Sciences
Ronald E. McNair Program Mentor
Criminology & Law Studies Committee Chair, Assessment Leader, Member
Major Committees: Sociology, Anthropology, Social Welfare and Justice Member
Committee on Faculty Development
McGee Lecture Committee Member
Department Advisory Committee Member
Undergraduate Research Committee Member
Assessment Committee
Founder and Co-Coordinator, Marquette Legal Education and Research Network (mLearn) http://academic.mu.edu/mlearn
Community
The Milwaukee Turners, Milwaukee WI
Sojourner Family Peace Center, Milwaukee WI
Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Milwaukee WI
Milwaukee Commission on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Milwaukee, WI
Safe and Sound, Non-profit Organization for Community Violence Reduction, Milwaukee, WI
Project RETURN, Non-profit Organization, Milwaukee WI
Interagency Child Abuse Evaluation and Training Center, Minneapolis, MN
The Neighborhood Involvement Program, Rape and Sexual Abuse Center. Minneapolis, MN
WATCH Court Monitoring, Minneapolis, MN
Professional Associations
American Society of Criminology (ASC)
American Sociological Association (ASA)
Law and Society Association (LSA)
National Women's Studies Association (NWSA)
Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS)
2021- Co-chair, Social Action Committee
Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP)
Contact
Marquette University
Department of Social & Cultural Sciences
