On the first day of the new semester, Megan Lease made history. Megan defended her dissertation, “A Strong Woman of the Lord: Performing Gender at the Intersection of Sport and Evangelical Christianity," making her the first student at KU to receive a PhD from the Department of Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies. KU is one of only 14 programs in the United States that offer a PhD in Women’s Studies. After her defense we were able to catch up with Megan to learn a little bit more about KU's first Women's Studies doctoral candidate.

Hometown: Elizabeth City, North Carolina

Undergraduate major: History

Tell us more about your dissertation: My dissertation examines how female Christian athletes negotiate various and sometimes competing gendered expectations as Christians, women, and athletes.