
Lynn Comella, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Biography
Lynn Comella, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies and serves as the program’s undergraduate advisor. She is the recipient of the 2015 Nevada Regents’ Rising Researcher Award, which is given annually to one NSHE faculty member from UNLV, UNR, and DRI in recognition of early-career accomplishments. An interdisciplinary scholar trained in cultural studies, Dr. Comella’s research is animated by a desire to better understand a number of broad sociological themes, including the relationship between gender, sexual politics, marketplace culture, and consumer capitalism. Her work has been published in the International Journal of Communication, Feminist Media Studies, The Feminist Porn Book, Sex for Sale, and New Sociologies of Sex Work, among other venues. In addition to her numerous publications in peer-reviewed academic journals and books, Dr. Comella has researched and written more than 45 articles about sex and culture for local and national media outlets. She has reported on the state of sex education in Nevada, the history of prostitution in Las Vegas from 1905 – 1955, and the growth of women’s erotica, among other topics. She is co-editor of New Views on Pornography: Sexuality, Politics, and the Law (Praeger) and is a contributor to Best Sex Writing 2015 (Cleis Press). Dr. Comella received a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; an M.A. in Gender Studies and Feminist Theory from the New School for Social Research; and a B.A. in Psychology (Highest Distinction), with minors in Anthropology and Women’s Studies, from The Pennsylvania State University.