Akiv Dawson – Assistant Professor

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Biography

Dr. Dawson is an assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia Southern University. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Howard University in 2020 during which time she was awarded the Ernest E. Just-Percy L. Julian Graduate Research Assistantship to conduct research on race and crime victimization over the last thirty years. She also served on the advisory board of Social Problems and worked as a researcher for the Justice, Housing, and Health Study at American University. 

Her area of focus is inequality in the criminal justice system, particularly as it pertains to issues of race, gender, and citizenship status. Recently, her research on Black women’s experiences during traffic stops was recognized by the Society for the Study of Social Problems as an exemplar in social action and justice-oriented research. Currently, she conducts research on intersections of crimmigration and mass incarceration; racialized and gendered police violence; and prisoner reentry. Her research has been published in Critical Studies in Media Communications, Race-Ethnicity and Education, The Southern Sociologist, Medium, Criminal Law Bulletin, and Prisoner Reentry in the 21st Century: Critical Perspectives in Prisoner Reentry.

Education

Ph.D., Sociology (2020) Howard University

M.A., Social Science (2016) Georgia Southern University

B.GS, General Studies (2013) Georgia Southern University

A.S., Criminal Justice (2011) Gordon College

Courses Taught

Undergraduate Courses

Inequalities, Crime, & Justice, Victimology

Graduate Courses

Seminar in Criminal Justice: Race and the Criminal Justice System

Research

Journal Articles

DeVose, Dina Walker, Akiv Dawson, April M. Schueths, Ted Brimeyer, and Jonique Freeman. (2017). “Southern Assumptions: Normalizing Racialized Structures at a University in the Deep South.” Race Ethnicity and Education, DOI: 10.1080/13613324.2017.1417256.

Dawson, Akiv. “A Space for Countering Colorblind Discourse: Constructions of Police-Perpetrated Homicides of African-American Males.” (2018). Critical Studies in Media Communications, DOI: 10.1080/15295036.2018.1436763

Katz-Fishman, Walda, Akiv Dawson, Marie-Jipguep-Akhtar. (2020) “They won’t even say capitalism”: Teaching Social Theory in the Trump Era. The Southern Sociologist, 51(4): 5-7.

Jones-Brown, Delores, Joshua Ruffin, Kwan Lamar-Blount-Hill, Akiv Dawson, Cicely Cottrell. (2020) Hernandez v. Mesa and Police Liability for Youth Homicides before and after the death of Michael Brown .” Criminal Law Bulletin, 56(5): pp (forthcoming)

Book Chapters

Reviere, Rebecca., Vernetta Young., and Akiv Dawson. (2019). Mothers Returning Home: A Critical Intersectional Approach to Re-Entry. In K. Middlemass, & C.J. Smith, Prisoner Reentry in the 21st Century: Critical Perspectives of Returning Home (p. Forthcoming). New York: Routledge.

Other Publications

Akiv Dawson, June 23, 2017. “Our Healthcare: What Prodigy’s Death Should Mean to Us”. Hip Hop Caucus.

Dawson, Akiv. “Black Lives Matter? Public Accounts of Police Officers’ Use of Lethal Force” (2016). Electronic Theses & Dissertations. Paper 1438.

Akiv Dawson, March 1, 2016. “My Strange Addiction: Qualitative Research.” Eagle QuaRC Blog. Georgia Southern University.

Awards & Honors

2020 – Edward Bouchet Honor Society Inductee, Yale University, Graduate Student Exemplar, Howard University Graduate School

2019 – Featured Abstract, Society for the Study of Social Problems, 2019 Annual Meeting Ernest E. Just – Percy L. Julian Graduate Research Assistantship Award, 2019-2020, Howard University

2018 – Pass with Distinction (Highest Honors), Criminology Comprehensive Exam, Department of Sociology and Criminology, Howard University

2017 – Graduate Research Assistantship, Howard University Scholarship, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) Doctoral Summit

2016 – Committed to Breathe Essay Contest, 3rd Place, Howard University

2016 – Most Outstanding Committee Award (Highest Honors), 14th National Model African Union Conference, Howard University

2016 – Meeting and Exceeding Performance Goals Award, Georgia Department of Corrections

2015 – Most Outstanding in Committee Award, Converse University’s 2015 Southeast Regional Model Arab League

2015 – Most Outstanding in Committee (Highest Honors), Howard University’s 13th National Model African Union Conference

2014 – Most Outstanding in Committee Award, Clayton State University’s Southeast Model African Union

2014 – Most Outstanding in Committee Award, Howard University’s 12th National Model African Union

2014 – “Head of the CLASS” recognition from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Georgia Southern University

Last updated: 12/15/2023