Jessica Krug facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jessica Krug
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|---|---|
| Born | c. 1982 (age 42–43) |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Jess "La Bombalera" Jessica Cruz |
| Education | The Barstow School (1999) |
| Alma mater | University of Kansas Portland State University, B.A. (2005) University of Wisconsin–Madison, Ph.D. (2012) |
| Occupation |
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| Known for | Controversy revealing false claims of racial and cultural identities |
| Awards | Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship (2009) |
Jessica Anne Krug (born around 1982) is an American historian, author, and activist. She taught at George Washington University (GWU) from 2012 to 2020. During her time there, she became a permanent professor of history.
Her books include Fugitive Modernities: Kisama and the Politics of Freedom. This book was a finalist for two important awards, the Frederick Douglass Prize and the Harriet Tubman Prize.
In September 2020, Krug admitted that she had pretended to be from a different racial and cultural background during her career. After this, she resigned from her job at GWU.
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About Jessica Krug
Jessica Anne Krug grew up in a Jewish family in Overland Park, Kansas. She went to The Barstow School, a private school in Kansas City.
She later attended the University of Kansas. Then she transferred to Portland State University, where she earned her first college degree in 2005.
In 2012, Krug earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This university has a very respected program for African history. In 2009, she received a special scholarship called the Fulbright-Hays Fellowship, which was worth $45,000.
Krug later shared that she had personal struggles. She said these difficulties led her to start pretending to be a light-skinned person of color when she was younger.
Her Work as a Historian
Krug taught university classes in the Washington D.C. area. She also lived in East Harlem in New York City.
She started teaching history at George Washington University (GWU) in 2012. In 2018, she gained "tenure," which means she got a permanent teaching position. By 2020, she was an associate professor.
Krug wrote articles and a book about African American history and Latin America. She also published essays in Essence and on a website called RaceBaitR.
She received financial help from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. This support helped her publish her book, Fugitive Modernities.
Fugitive Modernities Book
Krug's book, Fugitive Modernities: Kisama and the Politics of Freedom, is about the Quiçama people. These people live in Angola and also in other parts of the world, especially Brazil.
The book was a finalist for the Frederick Douglass Prize and the Harriet Tubman Prize. In Fugitive Modernities, Krug carefully looks at how the identity of the Kisama people was formed.
Kisama is a mountainous area in Angola. In the late 1500s, it became a safe place for people escaping the Atlantic slave trade. Krug's book was the first history written about the Kisama region.
She suggested that Kisama shows how people can have kinder relationships. It also shows how people can find freedom together, even when faced with tough rules from governments.
Why She Resigned
After Krug admitted she had misrepresented her background, the history department at George Washington University asked her to resign. They said her actions made people question if her research and teaching were truthful.
GWU canceled her classes after the news came out. Krug had told her colleagues at GWU that she was Afro-Latina. She also said she grew up in the Bronx with a Puerto Rican mother. In her classes, she sometimes used Spanglish and talked about her Puerto Rican heritage.
On September 9, 2020, GWU confirmed that Krug had officially resigned from the university.
See also
- List of impostors
