Rate My Professor Jocelyn Brown

Dr. Jocelyn Brown is an Assistant Professor of African American Studies at Ohio University. She earned a Ph.D. in Gerontology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, an M.A. in Applied Sociology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, an M.S. in Applied Psychology from the University of Baltimore, and a B.A. in Psychology from Shepherd University. Originally from West Virginia, her scholarship centers on Black Appalachian life across the life course, with particular emphasis on health disparities, structural racism, and the political-economic conditions shaping Black communities in Appalachia, the wider U.S., and the African diaspora. Brown bridges qualitative and community-engaged methods to document Black experiences often flattened or ignored in policy and institutional decision-making. Her research areas encompass racial and ethnic health disparities among African Americans and Black Americans, conducting qualitative research on the lived experiences of Black Appalachian communities, social media and content creation as forms of Black activism and resistance, and developing evidence-based practices to advance reparations for Black Americans at the local level.

Brown's current projects include an interview-based study examining Black alumni, staff, and faculty experiences of belonging, institutional betrayal, and legacy amid rollbacks of diversity initiatives in higher education. She supports recovery and analysis of community archives and oral history initiatives documenting African American presence in the Ohio River Valley and Appalachia. She is developing an interdisciplinary undergraduate Certificate in Health Disparities to equip students to analyze inequity across race, class, gender, geography, and policy. Brown is authoring a book-in-progress, Sourdough and Slavery, which explores bread, labor, race, and power through Black feminist analysis and Appalachian foodways. She is the editor of Miscarriages for Black Girls, a diasporic collection centering Black girls’, women’s, and birthing people’s narratives of pregnancy loss via essays, poetry, and testimony. Key publications include “What Are 40 Acres and a Mule Worth in the Twenty-First Century? A Rapid Review of Modern Reparative Initiatives to Address Socioeconomic and Health Inequality Among Black Americans” (Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 2025); “Addressing Racial Capitalism’s Impact on Black Essential Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Policy Recommendations” (Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 2023); “From Jesus to Avocado Toast: Examining How Different Age Cohorts of Black Americans Cope under Racial Capitalism” (Journal of African American Studies, 2025); “‘It’s Enough to Make Someone...Lose Their Mind’: Exploring the Mental Impact of Racial Capitalism across the Black American Life Course” (Journal of Ageing and Longevity, 2025); and contributions to Innovation in Aging (2022), such as “Using Voice- and Touchscreen-Controlled Smart Speakers to Protect Vulnerable Clients in Long-Term Care Facilities.” She teaches AAS 1060 Introduction to African American Studies, AAS 3460 Black Men and Masculinities, AAS 4693 Legal Policy and Disparities in the American Health Care System, HLTH Long Term Care Administration, and AAS The Black Woman. Brown is affiliated with the Institute to Advance Population Health.