Ohio University

Susanne B. Dietzel is the Director of the Women's Center at Ohio University, joining the university in August 2007. A citizen of Germany, Susanne was born and raised in Frankfurt, Germany. She came to the United States as an exchange student in 1984 to study Southern and African American literature, as well as women's studies at the University of Mississippi. Susanne earned her PhD in American Studies and Feminist Studies from the University of Minnesota in 1996.

Her research and teaching interests include interdisciplinary women's studies, the history and institutionalization of women's studies, feminist theory and activism, and literary and cultural studies.

Before coming to Ohio University, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor of women's studies at Tulane University, and the Director of the Women's Resource Center at Loyola University in New Orleans. In New Orleans, she was active in the battered women's movement, sexual assault prevention services, and the re-building of feminist and women's institutions after Hurricane Katrina. She is a co-founder of Katrina Warriors, an expanding feminist network that seeks to end all forms of violence against women and girls in New Orleans as well as the New Orleans diaspora. She also worked with the V-Day Organization on organizing the 10th anniversary of The Vagina Monologues held in New Orleans in April 2008.

She looks forward to working with Ohio University women to create a vibrant center that will serve students, faculty, staff, and members of the community. Susanne's resume (136kb pdf file) is also available online.