Christina D. Owens, PhD

I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in Women's Studies at Vassar College. I received my PhD in Cultural Studies with a designated emphasis in Feminist Theory and Research from the University of California, Davis. As a transnational American Studies scholar, I explore the race, gender, and sexuality politics of contemporary U.S. empire. My first book project examines how U.S. native English teachers in Japan participate in the construction of white male imperial innocence. You can learn more about my research and academic output via my website: www.christinaowens.net.

In addition to my transnational research interests, I am dedicated to social justice work addressing injustices within the U.S. prison-industrial-complex. Between 2011 and 2014 I was a volunteer with the Prison University Project at the San Quentin State Prison and before graduate school I worked with domestic violence victim-survivors in Seattle. I have also published creative non-fiction that explores themes of violence and "criminal justice." My commitment to both prison abolition and critical engagement with existing institutional structures has informed my pedagogy in my American Studies, Global Studies, and Women and Gender Studies classrooms.