Dr. Melissa Brown, PhD

Dr. Melissa Brown is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Santa Clara University, where she teaches courses on topics such as media and technology studies, digital feminisms, and dating in the digital age. Prior to arriving to SCU, she earned her Ph.D in Sociology at the University of Maryland, before she completed a postdoctoral research fellowship with the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University.

Dr. Brown takes an interdisciplinary approach to her scholarship, drawing on insights from Black feminist thought, critical race theory, and digital sociology to analyze the complex interactions of race, class, gender, and sexuality in a digital society. With a particular emphasis on Black people's experiences, her research focuses on how digital media representations shape our understanding of knowledge, identity, power, and social justice. Her research on anti-racism, Black feminist activism, and Black digital culture appears in Ethnic and Racial Studies, Sociology Compass, and several edited volumes including Black Feminist Sociology and Networked Feminisms. She is also a co-author of the Brookings Governance report “Bystander intervention on social media: Examining cyberbullying and reactions to systemic racism,” which explores strategies to resist the proliferation of racist discourse on online social networks.

In addition to her scholarship, Dr. Brown is also an active member of the Santa Clara community, serving on several working groups on digital pedagogies. She also mentors students in communication research and is known for her supportive and collaborative approach to teaching and research. Overall, as a scholar and educator, Dr. Brown works to make important contributions to our understanding of the intersections of race, gender, and media. Furthermore, her commitment to social justice and equity is evident in both her scholarship and her community involvement.

Sub-specialties:

My sub-specialty is using an analytical lens rooted in Black feminist sociology. Black feminist sociology is a branch of feminist theory in sociology that emerged as part of the third wave of the women's movement and the "fourth critique" of U.S. sociology. It builds on the preceding critiques of radical sociology, black sociology, and feminist sociology. Black feminist sociology emphasizes the intersectionality of race, class, and gender, challenging the traditional sociological explanations that separate these social forces. It aims to center women of color as subjects of inquiry and active agents in knowledge production, exposing the masculinism and biases of traditional knowledge. Black feminist sociology seeks to revise sociological theory by incorporating the perspectives and experiences of black women and other women of color, addressing the complexities of inequality and oppression shaped by race, gender, and class. It draws upon qualitative research methods, macro-level analysis, and the interplay between biography and social-historical contexts. The goal is to challenge dualistic thinking and capture the multidimensionality of black women's experiences in society while confronting Western ethnocentrism.