JERVETTEWARD

Dr. Jervette R. Ward is a literary scholar and a trained journalist and public relations professional who writes, teaches, consults, and speaks on the power of language and popular culture as avenues for social change. She is a strategic, visionary leader committed to innovation, equity, & social justice with a proven track record and ability to inspire and guide organizations to sustained success.

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Dr. Ward is the President and Executive Director of the College Language Association (CLA), the oldest and largest organization of Black professors of languages and literature. She is the Chair of the Black Studies Department at The City College of New York (CCNY), flagship of the City University of New York (CUNY). 

 

She is the editor of Real Sister: Stereotypes, Respectability, and Black Women in Reality TV (Rutgers University Press). Her forthcoming book, Black Women vs Errbody: An Intellectual Tradition of Great Debates, is under contract.

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Her research and teaching areas focus on American Literature with an emphasis in African American Women's Literature. She has taught and published on Zora Neale Hurston, the addition of the African American characters to the Dick and Jane series, and Black women in reality television. 

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Dr. Ward earned the rank of Associate Professor with tenure at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and she was previously at Mississippi State University and Pine Manor College.

 

She earned her Ph.D. in English – Literary & Cultural Studies from The University of Memphis.​