Rate My Professor Lesleigh Owen

Dr. Lesleigh Owen is an Assistant Professor of Sociology in the School of Behavioral Sciences at Black Hills State University-Rapid City, part of the College of Natural & Behavioral Sciences. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2008. Her doctoral dissertation, titled "Living Large in a Size Medium World: Performing Fat, Stigmatized Bodies and Discourses," examined fat embodiment, performance, and social stigma, forming the basis of her subsequent scholarly contributions.

Owen's research specializations encompass fat studies, feminist theory, gender studies, disability studies, intersectionality, and social inequality, with a particular focus on spatial discrimination and ambivalence in fat experiences. Notable publications include "Living fat in a thin-centric world: Effects of spatial discrimination on fat bodies and selves," published in Feminism & Psychology in 2012, which analyzes how fat individuals cope with microaggressions in physical spaces through strategies such as withdrawal, invisibility, and disembodiment; and "Monstrous Freedom: Charting Fat Ambivalence," appearing in Fat Studies in 2015, which critically discourses on cultural ambiguities surrounding fatness. She has previously served as co-chair of the Body and Embodiment section of the Pacific Sociological Association and as Fat Studies area chair for the Popular Culture/American Culture Association. At Black Hills State University, Owen teaches sociology courses addressing inequality and social problems, leads student research projects like Catstone, organizes community engagements including visits to poverty workshops in October 2025, conducts Thanksgiving food drives that assembled over 30 HarvestGiving bags, and oversees the Sociology Human Services Collective's campus food pantry amid events like the government shutdown affecting SNAP benefits. She participates in university committees and is scheduled to present in the Spring 2026 Geek Speak series. Her work has influenced sociological discussions on embodied inequalities, with publications receiving over 170 combined citations.