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stef shuster

stef m shuster
  • Associate Professor
  • Department of Sociology
  • PhD, The University of Iowa 2014
  • 434C Berkey Hall
  • 509 E. Circle Drive
  • East Lansing, MI 48824
  • (517) 355-4189

CURRICULUM VITAE

stef shuster

BIOGRAPHY

stef m. shuster is an associate professor in the Society Program (Lyman Briggs College) and Department of Sociology (College of Social Science). They earned their Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Iowa, with a certificate in Gender Studies, and their B.A. in Sociology from Indiana University, Bloomington.

Their current research in gender, medicine, and feminist science, knowledge, and technology studies is united by an overarching interest in how evidence is a social artifact that is constituted through social, cultural, and historical contexts. Across their projects, shuster asks: who constructs evidence, how does evidence confer authority, and how is it mobilized by social actors? 

shuster currently serves as a deputy editor for Gender & Society.

CURRENT RESEARCH

The social life of evidence is the subject of shuster’s book manuscript, Trans Medicine: The Emergence and Practice of Treating Gender (NYU Press, 2021). Drawing on interviews with medical providers as well as ethnographic and archival research, shuster examines how health professionals approach patients who seek gender-affirming care. From genital reconstructions to hormone injections, the practice of trans medicine charts new medical ground, compelling medical professionals to plan treatments without widescale clinical trials to back them up. Relying on cultural norms and gut instincts to inform their treatment plans, shuster shows how medical providers’ lack of clinical experience and scientific research undermines their ability to interact with patients, craft treatment plans, and make medical decisions. This situation defies how providers are trained to work with patients and creates uncertainty. As providers navigate the developing knowledge surrounding the medical care of trans folk, Trans Medicine offers a rare opportunity to understand how providers make decisions while facing challenges to their expertise and, in the process, have acquired authority not only over clinical outcomes, but over gender itself.

ASSOCIATED PROGRAMS

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

2026    Becker, Andréa, stef shuster, Leah R. Koenig, Jennifer Ko, Ushma D. Upadhyay “Transgender, Nonbinary, and Gender Expansive Experiences with Telehealth Medication Abortion and Implications for Health Equity in the US.” Contraception 153:111212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2025.111212

2025    shuster, stef, Nicole Wonderlin, and Shahnaz Masani. “Plant Sex: A Cultural Analysis of the Gendering of Plant Reproduction Processes.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 50(30):707-32.

2025    Moseson, Heidi, Iris Olson, stef shuster, Angel Foster, Leo Han, Miles Harris, and Brooke Levandowski. “Approaching the Concepts of Gender and Sex in Family Planning Research.” Contraception 141:110708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2024.110708

2024    shuster, stef.  “The Assertion of Reproductive and Social Control in Mid-twentieth Century US Transgender Medicine.” Gender & History 36(1):208-23.

2024    shuster, stef, Celeste Campos-Castillo, Navid Madani, Kenneth Joseph. “Who Supports Bernie? Analyzing Identity and Ideological Variation on Twitter During the 2020 Democratic Primaries.” PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0294735
 
2024    shuster, stef and Laurel Westbrook. “Reducing the Joy Deficit in Sociology: A Study of Transgender Joy.” Social Problems 71(3):791-809. (equal authorship)

2023    Westbrook, Laurel and stef shuster. “Trans Joy: Flipping the Script of Marginality.” Contexts 22(4):16-21. (equal authorship)

2023    Rogers, Ethan, Andrew Krajewski, and stef shuster. “The Disproportionate Mental Health Burden Among Incarcerated Transgender and Gender Diverse People." Journal of Correctional Health Care 29(1):39-46.

2023    Campos-Castillo, Celeste and stef shuster. “So What if They’re Lying to Us? Comparing Rhetorical Strategies for Discrediting Sources of Disinformation and Misinformation using an Affect-based Credibility Rating.” American Behavioral Scientist 67(2):201-23.

2022    shuster, stef and Noah Lubben. “The Uneven Consequences of Rapid Organizational Change: COVID-19 and Healthcare Workers.” Social Science & Medicine 315:1-8.

2021    Hsieh, Ning and stef shuster. “Health and Health Care of Sexual and Gender Minorities.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 62(3):318-33. (equal authorship)

LINKS

Website: www.stefshuster.com

Twitter Handle: @stefshuster