Teresa de Lauretis

De Lauretis received her doctorate in Modern Languages and Literatures from Bocconi University in Milan before coming to the United States.

She joined the History of Consciousness with Hayden White, Donna Haraway, Fredric Jameson and Angela Davis.

Has held Visiting Professorships at universities worldwide including ones in Canada, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Austria, Argentina, Chile, France, Spain, Hungary, Croatia, Mexico and the Netherlands.

De Lauretis' account of subjectivity as a product of "being subject/ed to semiosis" (i.e., making meanings and being made by them) helps to theoretically resolve and overcome the tension between the human action (agency) and structure.

De Lauretis states that "queer theory challenged norms" that enforce inequalities regarding "social identities" such as gender, sexuality, class, and race.