Alix L. Olson

I am a doctoral candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where I also received my Graduate Certificate in Advanced Feminist Studies. My research interests include contemporary social and political thought, critical theory, transnational feminisms, and queer politics. My dissertation project The Promise(s) of Resilience: Governance and Resistance in Complex Times offers a critical examination of the rise and circulation of “resilience” within 21st Century political life and the ways it is fundamentally re-ordering peoples’ understanding of themselves, the world, and possibilities of action.  I argue that discourses of “resilience” intensify and extend the power relations of late liberal governance, even as its promises (like security and progress) are evidently revoked as anachronistic expectations in a globalized world. My dissertation work has been supported by the Center for Research on Families, the UMass Amherst Diversity Fellowship and the Five College Women’s Studies Research Center. I have published several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and am the recipient of the American Political Science Association's (New Political Science) Christian Bay Award. At UMass-Amherst, I have designed and taught courses for the Political Science and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies departments and have received the university-wide Distinguished Teaching Award and the Residential First-Year Experience Student Choice Teaching Award. This is my third year organizing and directing the UMass Amherst “Many Voices. One Community,” a Convocation event emphasizing diversity/inclusion as campus goals for 5500 incoming students.  I am currently serving as program chair for the New Political Science division of APSA at the 2018 annual meeting.Prior to doctoral studies, I toured internationally for over a decade as a spoken word artist where I was the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship and the OutMusic National Artist-Activist Award. I have published widely outside of academia including editing the first U.S. all-women’s spoken word anthology Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution.  (www.alixolson.com). 

• Olson to speak at Woodstock Writers Festival
• Olson Named Family Research Fellow
• Ed Erikson and Alix Olson win Coveted Distinguished Teaching Award

GRANTS, HONORS, AWARDS

• University Dissertation Writing Fellowship ($4000), UMass Amherst, 2017
• Five College Women’s Studies Research Center, Research Associate, 2016-2017
• University Dissertation Research Grant ($1000), UMass Amherst, 2016
• WGSS Conference Travel Grant ($300), UMass Amherst, Fall 2016
• Graduate Research Initiative Grant ($2500), UMass Amherst PoliSci, 2016
• University Conference Travel Grant ($650), UMass Amherst, Spring 2016
• Christian Bay Best Paper Award ($500), American Political Science Assoc., 2014
• Graduate Research Initiative Grant ($2500), UMass Amherst PoliSci, Summer 2014
• Center for Research on Families Dissertation Fellowship ($10,000), 2013
• University Distinguished Teaching Award ($2000) UMass Amherst, 2013
• Graduate Research Initiative Grant ($2500), UMass Amherst, 2013
• Residential First Year Experience Student Choice Teaching Award, UMass, 2012
• GRIP Travel Grant, Graduate Research Initiative Program, UMass-Amherst, 2012
• Women’s and Gender Studies Travel Grant, UMass-Amherst, Fall 2012
• Political Science Conference Travel Grant, UMass-Amherst, Spring 2011
• Distinction, Contemporary Social and Political Thought Comprehensive Exam, 2012
• Distinction, Interdisciplinary Political Science Comprehensive Exam, 2012

NON-ACADEMIC PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (Select)

I have lectured, performed spoken word poetry and taught social justice, art and politics, and

writing at over 300 colleges and universities and at feminist and LGBTQ conferences, high

schools, and prisons across the United States and internationally. I include a selection of my

work experience as a lifelong writer and educator.

Published Books (Popular Media)

A. Olson, editor, Word Warriors: 35 Leaders in the Women’s Spoken Word Revolution, 2007.

Emeryville: Seal Press (In addition to editorial work, I authored the “introduction” and a chapter

in the book).

A. Olson, Burning Down the House, coauthored with Roger Bonair-Agard, et. al., 2000. NY:

Soft Skull Press.

Published Articles (Popular Media)

A. Olson, “Turn It Down A Notch” in Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word

Revolution, 2007. Emeryville: Seal Press

A. Olson, “In the Left Lane with Alix Olson,” Columnist for InsideOut Magazine, 2005-2007.

A. Olson, “Rachel Maddow: Straight Talk,” Interview with Rachel Maddow, Velvet Park

Magazine, Summer 2005.

A. Olson, “Diary of a Slam Poet: Road Poet on a Mission,” Ms. Magazine, January 2001.

A. Olson, “Let the Poetry Come,” Curve Magazine, San Francisco, CA, November 2001.

Published Poetry (Journals, Anthologies, Magazines)

My poetry has been published in literary venues including: The Aunt Lute Anthology of U.S.

Women Writers; The Seattle Journal for Social Justice; The Lesbian Review of Books; Utne

Magazine; The Progressive Magazine; The Beloit Poetry Journal.

Teaching Experience (Political Leadership/Writing Workshops)

Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val Kill’s Young Women’s Leadership Center, July 2007-2016.

Juniper Writing Institute, UMass Amherst, June 2014-2016.

Summer Arts Institute, California State University, CA. Summer 2010.

Johannesburg and Cape Town Youth Centers, South Africa, March 9-20, 2007.

National Creating Change Conference (NGLTF), Kansas City, MO, November 8-12, 2006.

Hetrick-Martin Institute for GLBT Youth, NYC, 2002-2006.

Rikers Island Correctional Facility, Rose M. Singer Women’s Prison, 2001-2005.

Awards (Art/Social Justice)

Hedgebrook Writing Fellowship, 2007.

Artist-Activist of the Year, Out Music Awards, 2004.

Best Documentary Film (producer), for “Left Lane: On The Road With Alix Olson,” Paris

Feminist Film Festival, 2007.

Outstanding Activist of the Year, Venus Magazine, 2004.

Visionary Award, Washington, D.C. Rape Crisis Center, 2004.

New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, 1999.

National Slam Poetry Champion, 1998

National and International Media Appearances (Television, Radio, Print)

NPR (“To The Best of Our Knowledge”); BBC, Australia National Radio; CNN;

Air America (“The Rachel Maddow Show”); HBO (“Def Poetry Jam”); Netherlands Radio

(“Vox Humana Series”); WXPN (“World Café with David Dye”); The New York Times;

The Progressive; Time Out NY; The Washington Post; Salon.

PUBLICATIONS

Peer-Reviewed Articles and Book Chapters

A. Olson. Queer(y)ing Permanent Partnership. Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women’s

and Gender Studies, 12, Summer 2014.

A. Olson. Towards A Post-Parsimonious Political Science. Studying Politics Today: Critical

Approaches to Political Science, eds. Nancy S. Love and Mark Mattern. London: Routledge,

2014 (reprint).

A. Olson. Archiving Optimism in Agitation with a Smile: Howard Zinn’s Legacies and the

Future of Activism, eds. Steven Bird, et al. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers, May 2013.

A. Olson. Towards A Post-Parsimonious Political Science. New Political Science: A Journal of

Politics and Culture 35:3, September 2013.

Articles in Preparation

A. Olson. Resilient Like My Onions: Engendering Food Security in the Global South, in preparation for submission to Signs, December 2017

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Teaching Awards

University Distinguished Teaching Award, UMass Amherst, 2013

Residential First Year Experience Student Choice Teaching Award, UMass Amherst, 2012

Instructor of Record, University of Massachusetts Amherst

POLISCI (TBD): Diversity in Action, Spring 2018 

WGSS 295F: Feminist Art(s) of Politics (upper-level seminar), Fall 2015

POLISCI 391AP: Art and Politics (upper-level seminar), Spring 2015

POLISCI 171: Intro to Political Theory (first-year lecture course), Fall 2014

POLISCI 171: Intro to Political Theory (online), Summers 2014-2017, Winter 2017

WGSS 187: Intro to Women’s and Gender Studies (online), Summer 2014

Teaching Assistant, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Biology of Difference

Intro to Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies

Intro to World Politics

Intro to Political Theory

Intro to American Politics

Intro to Political Theory

American Political Thought

Controversies in U.S. Public Policy

Undergraduate Research Mentor, University of Massachusetts Amherst

University Research Engagement Program (UREP), Mentored undergraduate Political Science

majors teaching advanced research skills, Political Science Department, UMass Amherst, 2015-2016