Lillian (Lily) Nagengast is an interdisciplinary scholar of feminist and queer studies whose research explores how rural place informs modern conceptions of gender, sexuality, and activism. She is a fourth-year PhD candidate in UT Austin’s American Studies program with a portfolio in Women’s and Gender Studies. Prior to her time at UT, she received an MA in English from Georgetown University and a BA in English with a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies from Boston College. Lily is from Bloomfield, Nebraska.
Lily is currently at work on her dissertation, an interdisciplinary project that uses archival and media analysis, in-depth interviews, and ethnographic observation to explore what feminism looks like in the rural Midwest. Her dissertation was awarded a 2026 Humanities Research Award for its innovative contribution to the humanities.
Her peer-reviewed research has been published or is forthcoming in Frontiers, Feminist Media Studies, and the Journal of Working-Class Studies. Her scholarship has also appeared in Feminist Studies and the De Gruyter Handbook of Feminist Political Geography.
As a rural college student, Lily is passionate about supporting underserved students in higher education. She has shared her reflections on her journey to higher education on the Rural College Student Experience podcast and in The Hechinger Report.