Bettina Aptheker

Bettina Aptheker is a Distinguished Professor Emerita in the Feminist Studies Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she has taught for 40 years. Her popular course, Introduction to Feminisms, was taught for 30 years. She held the Jack and Peggy Baskin Foundation Presidential Chair for Feminist Studies from 2017 to 2020 and previously held a UC Presidential Chair in Feminist Critical Race & Ethnic Studies (2012-2015). Aptheker is the author of several influential books, including The Morning Breaks: The Trial of Angela Davis (2nd edition, 1999) and Intimate Politics: How I Grew Up Red, Fought for Free Speech and Became a Feminist Rebel (2006). Her current research focuses on “Queering the History of the Communist Left in the United States.” As a scholar-activist, she is actively involved in anti-racist work and frequently speaks about the #MeToo movement.