Jennifer Christine Nash facts for kids

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  A candid image of Jennifer Nash looking out of a window

Jennifer Christine Nash (born in 1980) is a respected professor at Duke University. ..... She also directs a summer program focused on Black Feminist Theory. Before joining Duke University in 2020, Professor Nash taught at Northwestern University starting in 2016. Her work explores important ideas about how race, gender, and law connect.

Education and Early Career

Jennifer Nash studied at Harvard University for all her degrees. She earned her PhD in African American Studies, which is a field that looks at the history and culture of Black people. She also got her law degree (JD) from Harvard Law School. Her first degree, an AB, was in women's studies from Harvard College.

Understanding Intersectionality

Professor Nash is well-known for her ideas about something called intersectionality. This term helps us understand how different parts of a person's identity, like their race, gender, and class, can combine to create unique experiences, especially when it comes to unfair treatment.

She believes that we should think carefully about intersectionality. She suggests that it's not just about supporting it completely or rejecting it. Instead, we should explore how people talk about it and use it. Professor Nash has pointed out that sometimes, people can become very protective of intersectionality, almost as if it's a "property" that only certain groups can use. She argues that this idea of "owning" a concept goes against the spirit of Black feminism, which has always been about freedom and breaking down barriers, not building them.

Important Books and Writings

Professor Nash has written several important books that share her ideas.

Books by Jennifer Nash

• How We Write Now: Living With Black Feminist Theory. Duke University Press, 2024.
• Birthing Black Mothers. Duke University Press, 2021. This book explores the experiences of Black mothers.
• Black Feminism Reimagined: After Intersectionality. Duke University Press, 2018.
• The Black Body in Ecstasy: Reading Race, Reading .... Duke University Press, 2014.

Books She Helped Edit

• Gender: Love. Macmillan Reference, 2016.
• The Routledge Companion to Intersectionalities. Routledge, 2023. She worked on this book with Samantha Pinto.
• Black Feminism on the Edge. Duke University Press, 2023. She also co-edited this book with Samantha Pinto.

Awards and Recognition

Professor Nash's work has received several awards, showing how important her contributions are.

• Alan Bray Memorial Book Prize. This award was given to her book The Black Body in Ecstasy: Reading Race, Reading ... by a group called the GL/Q Caucus in the Modern Language Association.
• Gloria Anzaldúa Book Prize. Her book Black Feminism Reimagined After Intersectionality won this award from the National Women's Studies Association.
• Honorable mention for Gloria Anzaldúa Book Prize. Her book Birthing Black Mothers also received a special mention for this award from the National Women's Studies Association.

More Information

• Faculty profile at duke.edu