Since legal theorist Kimberlé Crenshaw first spoke of

intersectionality in the late 1980s, scholars in the social sciences and humanities have debated its relative strengths and weaknesses in theoretical, methodological, and policy terms. Intersectionality research is defined principally by its focus on the simultaneous and interac-tive effects of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, and national origin as categories of difference in the United States and beyond. This symposium is a conscious attempt to draw on our expertise in intersectionality and our identities as political scientists to spotlight different approaches to intersectionality. Part of our goal is thus to facilitate the development of innovative theoretical argu-ments and new empirical research designs in this area of scholarship by featuring examples of intersectionality research from distinct subfields