Stef Woods is a full-time professorial lecturer with the American Studies Program at American University. She specializes in social media, American popular culture, sexuality, nonprofits, and activism.

Stef has been featured in numerous print and online publications, including The Daily Beast, NPR.com, Fast Company, Associated Press, Today.com, Cosmopolitan, Forbes.com, Washingtonian, TeenVogue.com, and USA TODAY College. She was interviewed for her 50 Shades Trilogy and Hunger Games curricula by MSNBC, WTOP, and FOX 5 DC. Her courses also have been highlighted by The New York Times' Education Life section, Entertainment Weekly magazine, Buzzfeed and Business Insider. Stef was profiled as a breast cancer survivor in Women's Health and On Health magazines, and on WebMD and HealthIT.gov.

In 2015, she lectured on politics, class and marketing in The Hunger Games at The Smithsonian. She followed up that program with 2016 and 2017 talks at the Smithsonian on politics and ethics in House of Cards. Stef is a frequent panelist on nonprofits, branding, activism, health and social media.

Stef received the Dean's Award for Exceptional Innovation in Teaching in 2016. She serves on the Faculty Senate's Committee on Information Services. In 2012, she received the AU Jack Child Teaching with Technology Award.

Prior to teaching, Stef practiced immigration law with a focus on deportation, U-visa and VAWA cases. She writes about motherhood, sexual health and breast cancer on her website, CityGirlBlogs.com. Stef’s most important role is as a mom to her four-year-old daughter, Roya.