black feminist. thinker. reader. traveler. sociologist

Dr. Letisha Engracia Cardoso Brown is a Black feminist scholar who focuses on the study of Black sportswomen, food studies and Black girlhoods. Dr. Brown is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and affiliate of Africana Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies at Virginia Tech.

As a scholar with a background in Africana studies, sociology, Black feminism, women’s studies, and theories of race and racism, Dr. Brown focuses on how women and girls (primarily in the US) experience social inequality broadly. Her work touches upon sports, food, faith, romantic relationships, friendships, and familial ties. Dr. Brown is currently working on her first monograph under advanced contract with Rutgers University Press that offers a Black feminist approach to the study critical issues in sports including athlete activism, the politics of Black hair, and fashion.

Dr. Brown has also published articles such as “Eat to Live, Don’t Live to Eat: Black Men, Faith and Food,” in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health that examines masculinity through the lens of food and fasting among Black women and “Sporting Space Invaders: Elite Bodies in Track and Field, A South African Context,” in the South African Review of Sociology that conceptualizes “sporting space invaders” through the lens of Nirmal Puwar’s concept of “bodies out of place,” through her analysis of South African runner Caster Semenya.

Dr. Brown earned her M.A. and PhD. in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin (UT), and her B.A. in Africana Studies from the University of Northern Colorado (UNCO) where she was a Ronald E. McNair Scholar and crowned as the first Black Homecoming Queen. Dr. Brown’s research has been supported by the Virginia Tech Juneteenth Faculty Scholar Award. Dr. Brown also does freelance writing for the sports website First and Pen.