Meet the Faculty

Chris Babits

Chris Babits is a temporary assistant professor of U.S. History, History of Sexuality, and History of Psychology and the coordinator of concurrent enrollment for U.S. History. Chris is an interdisciplinary scholar with specializations in the histories of the modern United States, lived religion, gender and sexuality, and psychology. 

His courses include HIST 1700: American History, HIST/IGS 3040: History of Sexuality, HIST 4760: America in the 1960s, HIST 4790: American Religious History, HIST/RELS 4910: Religion and Politics in the Modern U.S., HIST 4990: Undergraduate Research Capstone, PSY 4960: History of Modern Psychology, and PSY 6100: History and Systems of Psychology.

Chris is in the process of completing his first book, titled To Cure a Sinful Nation: A History of Conversion Therapy in the United States. To Cure a Sinful Nation is the first full-length historical investigation of sexual orientation and gender identity change therapies in the U.S. The book begins in the Gilded Age, when doctors at asylums “treated” so-called sexually and gendered deviant patients, and ends with a discussion on efforts to ban conversion therapy today.

Tasha Iglesias 

Dr. Tasha Iglesias currently serves as a Lecturer in the School of Education, for the University of California, Riverside, Utah State University, Salt Lake Community College and Southern New Hampshire University. Dr. Iglesias earned a Doctorate in Educational Leadership (Ed.D) at California State University Long Beach and teaches in the Education and Social Sciences field. Dr. Iglesias’s dissertation was titled “Each One, Teach One”: The Impact of a Hip Hop Learning Community on the Cultural Wealth of Foster Youth in Higher Education. Dr. Iglesias’s research interests include: Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, Hip Hop Pedagogy and Praxis, and the history of Hip Hop as a culture. Dr. Iglesias develops curriculum, trains professors, consults with organizations and educational institutions and presents her research across the world.

Outside of academia, Iglesias serves as the President of the Hip Hop Association of Advancement and Education (HHAAE) and co-chair of the Global Conference on Hip Hop Education and International Hip Hop Studies conference.

Cathleen Osborne-Gowey

Cathleen Osborne-Gowey has taught women and gender studies, intersectional gender studies courses, and various anthropology courses for over twelve years at Oregon State University and Utah State University. She currently teaches online sections of IGS 1010 Gender Studies and IGS 3010 Gender & Inclusive Leadership. 

A member of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, she co-created and serves as an administrator for the domestic violence and sexual assault advocacy program for her tribe. She is also as a crime victim advocate.

Cat is married with two children, and although she has traveled all over the world, she finds the mountains of Oregon and the Rockies of Colorado to be where she finds solace and peace.

Sarah Timmerman

Sarah Timmerman is an instructor for Intersectional Gender Studies 1010 and the Program Coordinator for the Women and Gender program in the Inclusion Center. She also serves as the advisor for the Disabled and Neurodiverse Aggies. A USU alum, she received her BA in English Creative Writing and Women & Gender Studies, and an MA from the University of Kent, UK.