This ethnography explores the academic practices of three lesbian faculty members at a public research university. The book seeks to rethink constructions of identity and knowledge in an academic setting by looking closely at how these women are defined by and redefine the terms "lesbian" and "academic," and it examines how lesbians construct their roles as faculty members in order to problematize social, institutional, and personal dilemmas created by their presence and action. The focus is on social and institutional discourses, personal conversations, and the lives and actions of people within and beyond the university. The book explores ideals of research, teaching, and service, and their enactment in a university setting. It investigates the university itself, including how knowledge and professional roles are constructed and legitimated within the intersections of institution, department, and discipline, as well as official and unofficial recognition and representations of lesbians' presence. (Contains an extensive bibliography.) (SM)