Tanisha M. Jackson, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) joins the Department of African American Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences as an assistant professor and the Community Folk Art Center’s executive director. She teaches classes in African Diaspora Art, including Art of the Black World and Contemporary Black Film.

Jackson’s research focuses on Black women’s wellness in contemporary art and popular culture in multimedia and community spaces. She is currently working on a single-authored manuscript. She has also published peer-reviewed articles internationally and nationally, including Me-Telling: Recovering the Black Female Body Through Digital Narratives and Mixed Methods” Visual Culture and Gender Journal v.8. 2013, and “Visual Images and Worldview in a Self-Reflective Millennial Space” in The Journal of GEARTE, 2018.

Concurrently, Jackson’s other research focuses on community-based arts and arts education as a form of liberation and social activism. To which she evaluates applied strategies specific to African Diaspora community spaces. This area of interest connects her role as an arts administrator to scholarship. She published the article In Conversation with Jaleel Campbell: Cultivating Pleasure Through Community-based Art in the City of Syracuse in the Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education, 2020. Along with publishing, Jackson is the founder of a short film series, Black Arts Speak (BAS), that highlights the work and praxis of contemporary Black artists and their impact within their respective communities.

Jackson earned her Ph.D. in Art Education in 2010, an M.A. in African American Studies in 2006, and a B.A. in English in 2003, all at The Ohio State University. She earned an Executive Master of Business Administration in 2013 from The University of Toledo.

Jackson’s research focuses on the representation of Black women’s wellness in contemporary art and popular culture in multimedia and community spaces. She is currently working on a single-authored manuscript. She has also published peer-reviewed articles internationally and nationally, including Me-Telling: Recovering the Black Female Body Through Digital Narratives and Mixed Methods” Visual Culture and Gender Journal v.8. 2013, and “Visual Images and Worldview in a Self-Reflective Millennial Space” in The Journal of GEARTE, 2018.

Concurrently, Jackson’s other research focuses on community-based arts and arts education as a form of liberation and social activism. To which she evaluates applied strategies specific to African Diaspora community spaces. This area of interest connects her role as an arts administrator to scholarship. She published the article In Conversation with Jaleel Campbell: Cultivating Pleasure Through Community-based Art in the City of Syracuse in the Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education, 2020. Along with publishing, Jackson is the founder of a short film series, Black Arts Speak (BAS), that highlights the work and praxis of contemporary Black artists and their impact within their respective communities.

Jackson is the recipient of the 2024-2025 American Fellowship by the American Association for University Women (AAUW), a year-long fellowship designed to support the completion of her manuscript, Black Women's Art Ecosystems: Sites of Wellness and Self-care. Prior to this fellowship, she was a grant recipient of the Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences/Humanities Center's Manuscript Workshop in 2023.