Get to know the newest additions to the School of Social Transformation faculty.
Mellissa Linton, assistant professor, women and gender studies
Prior to coming to the School of Social Transformation, Linton completed her PhD in ethnic studies at University of California, San Diego. Before teaching there, she was a double major in English literature and American studies at the University of Southern California.
Linton is an ethnographer, and her research focuses on reproductive justice, materialist feminism and Central American studies. She is currently working on her first book that utilizes ethnography and cultural analysis of political texts to assert that the right to migrate and flee from Central American countries are reproductive justice issues.
One of her favorite memories of her academic career was receiving her PhD, as she is the first in her family to do so. Linton is also an ambassador for the 501c3 nonprofit Latino Outdoors and is an avid hiker, backpacker and rock climber.
Tracy Perkins, assistant professor, justice studies
Prior to coming to ASU, Perkins was an assistant professor in the department of sociology and criminology at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Perkins’ research is focused on social movements and environmental inequality, with a particular focus on environmental justice activism. She has a book coming out with the University of California Press titled “Movement Matters: Protest, Policy and Three Decades of Environmental Justice Activism.”
Some of her favorite memories in her academic career are found in meeting activists and interviewing them about their lives. For example, she created a digital humanities project featuring the late California pesticide drift activist Teresa De Anda.
She also does photography along with her written work, an example being "Voices from the Valley: Environmental Justice in California’s San Joaquin Valley."
Jennifer Bondy, associate professor, justice and social inquiry, women and gender studies, and culture, society and education
Bondy will be joining the School of Social Transformation in the spring 2021 semester. Prior to coming to ASU, she was an associate professor in the women’s and gender studies program in the Department of Sociology at Virginia Tech.
Her research is focused on three interrelated lines of inquiry: Latina youth citizenship formations, school socialization of the children of immigrants, and how white, female preservice teachers understand immigration and undocumented status. She is co-authoring a forthcoming book titled “Immigration and School Safety,” as well as an article titled "Critical Affect Literacy: A Call to Action in a Trump Administration.”
Her favorite memory in her academic career thus far is joining the editorial board for academic journal Race, Ethnicity and Education. Something that you may not know about Bondy is that she loves strength training and can flip a 300-pound tire and pull a car!
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