Dorian Rhea Debussy, Ph.D. (she/her) is a part-time Lecturer in the Deptartment of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at The Ohio State University at Newark. She joined the faculty in summer 2019, and she previously served as a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science for three years.
Additionally, Rhea serves as the inaugural Director of External Affairs at Equitas Health, which is a federally designated community health center and one of the largest LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS serving healthcare organizations in the country. Prior to this, she enjoyed a decade of service in higher education, which began in public university settings in Connecticut. More recently, she served as the Associate Director for the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Kenyon College, where she specialized in fostering LGBTQ+ inclusion and equity across campus and beyond. During her time at Kenyon College, she also served as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, where she taught the college’s first queer studies course.
A graduate of the Dept. of Political Science at the University of Connecticut, Rhea’s doctoral work focused on the histories of LGBTQ exclusion from the military and intelligence communities. Building upon this research, Rhea served as the lead author for the newly updated and expanded third edition of Freedom to Serve: The Definitive Guide to LGBTQ Military Service (forthcoming; Washington, D.C.: Modern Military Association of America), which is the most comprehensive guidebook on issues affecting LGBTQ service members across all branches of the military. Given the important nature of this work and the status of this guidebook, an advance copy of this text was requested by the Biden Presidential Transition Team in December 2020.
As a scholar of LGBTQ+ politics and policy, Rhea also regularly presents at regional, national, and international LGBTQ+ conferences. In fall 2020, she presented at the Equitas Health Institute’s Transforming Care Conference, where she was also recognized with the Community Advocate Award. Rhea, who is a member of the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH), also presented at WPATH’s 26th Annual Scientific Symposium, which is the world’s largest conference on transgender health. More recently, she presented an advocacy workshop at Stonewall Sports’ 8th Annual National Tournament and Summit, which is one of the largest LGBTQ+ focused athletic events in the country.
Passionate about inclusive teaching, Rhea has extensive and varied teaching experiences. Previously, she taught queer studies courses for the Women's and Gender Studies Program at Kenyon College; courses on the politics of race, class, and gender at Manchester Community College and Eastern Connecticut State University; and LGBTQ+ studies, feminist studies, American politics, and quantitative methods courses at the University of Connecticut. In addition to teaching, Rhea continues to actively write about issues affecting LGBTQ+ people and LGBTQ+ politics more broadly; her book project is under contract with Columbia University Press with an expected publication date of fall 2025.
Experience
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2022–presentLecturer, Dept. of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, The Ohio State University
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2022–presentDirector of External Affairs, Equitas Health
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2021–2022Visiting Assistant Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies Program, Kenyon College
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2020–2022Associate Director, Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Kenyon College
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2019–2022Lecturer, Dept. of Political Science , The Ohio State University
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2018–2020Assistant Director, Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion , Kenyon College
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2019–2019Visiting Assistant Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies Program, Kenyon College
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2012–2018Graduate Teaching Assistant, Dept. of Political Science, University of Connecticut
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2016–2018Lecturer, The Rainbow Center, Office for Diversity and Inclusion, University of Connecticut
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2013–2018Graduate Teaching Assistant, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program, University of Connecticut
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2015–2018Lecturer, Dept. of Political Science, Philosophy, and Geography , Eastern Connecticut State University
Education
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2018University of Connecticut, Ph.D. in Political Science
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2017University of Connecticut, Graduate Certificate in College Instruction
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2016University of Connecticut, Graduate Certificate in Feminist Studies
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2014University of Connecticut, M.A. in Political Science with a concentration in American Studies
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2012Columbus State University, B.A. in Political Science
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2011Regent's Park College, University of Oxford, Visiting Student Certificate in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics
Professional Memberships
- World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH)
- Out in STEM (oSTEM)
- American Public Health Association
- Diversity Scholars Network, National Center for Institutional Diversity, University of Michigan
- Columbus, OH
- Website
- Article Feed
- debussy.1@osu.edu
- Joined
