Black Studies
Affiliate Faculty
The Center for Black Studies promotes academic excellence and civic engagement with the support of a core group of faculty and staff affiliates. The Center facilitates interdisciplinary collaborations to create an intellectual community that serves the needs of our campus and of the broader public.
Faculty affiliates have numerous publications in civil rights history, race in media, southern cultural studies, Black musical traditions, educational inequality, Jim Crow politics, gender studies, and African American literary studies. They also develop popular courses based on their interdisciplinary research that attract students to the Black Studies minor.
Full-time employees of the university can become affiliates by supporting the Center’s mission. The Center for Black Studies and its affiliates are vital components of the university’s initiatives in diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Black Studies |
Sherita L. Johnson, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Black Studies 〡 Associate Professor
Discipline: English
Research Interests: African American Literature and Southern Literature
Cheryl D. Jenkins, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Center for Black Studies 〡Associate Professor
Discipline: Journalism, Public Relations, and Advertising
Research Interests: Journalism, Minority Representation in Media, Media and Culture
Valencia Walls
Interim Associate Director, Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life
Area of Expertise
Green Dot certified instructor, Cornell Diversity and Inclusion certificate
Rebecca Tuuri, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Discipline: History
Research Interests: African American, Women's and Gender, Modern U.S. history
Charkarra Anderson-Lewis, Ph.D.
Full Professor
Andrew Gutkowski, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Discipline: Interdisciplinary Studies
Research Interests: Environmental Justice, African American History, U.S. South
Thomas V. O’Brien, Ph.D.
Professor
Discipline: Educational Research and Administration
Research Interests: Education; History of American Education; Social Foundations of Education; Education
Policy and Politics; Race, Class, and Education; School Law; Higher Education
Marek D. Steedman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Discipline: Political Science and Legal Studies
Research Interests: Political Theory
Jessica Valles, Ph.D.
Assistant Teaching Professor
Discipline: Anthropology and Sociology
Research Interests: Aging, mental health, gender, family
Jason Wallace, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Discipline: Educational Research and Administration
Research Interests: Equity and Justice in Higher Education & Student Affairs, Black College Student Experiences,
First-Generation College Student Experiences, Qualitative Research Methodologies
Interested in Becoming a Faculty/Staff Affiliate?Southern Miss faculty/staff members who are interested in becoming affiliates or have a course added to the Black Studies minor curriculum should submit the application form for affiliate faculty/staff. |
