Professor, Sociology
Shirley A. Jackson is a professor of sociology and the former chair of Black studies from 2016 to 2019. Jackson specializes in the areas of race and ethnicity, gender and social movements. Her current research involves a socio-historical exploration of national and global themes of race/ethnicity and gender in political cartoons during WWII and the Civil Rights Movement.
Jackson is also conducting a comparative analysis of Cuba's 1961 Literacy Campaign and the 1964 Freedom Summer Project in Mississippi. Her most recent project explores the intersection of gender, race and space, focusing primarily on the experiences of African American women in white-dominated spheres.
As a scholar-activist, Jackson has given talks and appeared on television, radio and in print media speaking about issues related to BLM protests, social movements, Black women, racism and social inequality.