Joanne Goodwin’s research and teaching interests are in 20th century U.S. history with a specialization in women and gender history. Her books include: Changing the Game: Women at Work in Las Vegas, 1940-1990 (2014), Gender and the Politics of Welfare Reform (1997), and the Encyclopedia of Women in American History, 3 vols. (2002), which she co-edited. In addition, she has published widely on these topics in national and international journals. Additional information is available on her vitae.

Since coming to Las Vegas, Goodwin has become involved in writing histories of women who have helped to build this community. To that end, she has worked with others to create the Nevada Women's Archive at UNLV; she directed the Las Vegas Women Oral History Project stored at Lied Library UNLV; and she directed the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN), a state-wide program, from 1999-2017. These activities provided opportunities for graduate students to collaborate with faculty on research projects.  In 2014, she worked with supporters of the WRIN and VegasPBS to create MAKERS: Women in Nevada History.  Segments of the PBS program and the oral histories may be found here. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Collaborative of Women’s History Sites. Over 2019- 2020, she served as the Nevada coordinator for the National Votes for Women Trail adding 67 sites to the national digital map and five historic markers memorializing the woman suffrage movement across Nevada.