Lauren Michele Jackson
{{Short description|American culture critic (born 1991)}}
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| name = Lauren Michele Jackson
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| nationality = American
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| occupation = Culture critic, scholar, writer
| known_for = White Negroes (2019)
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| title = Assistant professor
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| education = University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (BA)
University of Chicago (PhD)
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| thesis_title = Black Vertigo: Nausea, Aphasia, and Bodily Noise, 1970s to the present
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| thesis_year = 2019
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| discipline = English, African-American studies
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| workplaces = Northwestern University
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Lauren Michele Jackson (born 1991) is an American culture critic and assistant professor of English and African American studies at Northwestern University. Her first book, White Negroes (2019), is a nonfiction collection of essays that explores cultural appropriation.{{Cite web|url=https://johannesburgreviewofbooks.com/2020/01/16/conversation-issue-appropriation-is-not-in-and-of-itself-a-bad-thing-but-the-way-its-invoked-in-the-culture-makes-it-seem-like-it-is-lauren-michele-jackson-talks/|title=[Conversation Issue] 'Appropriation is not in and of itself a bad thing, but the way it's invoked in the culture makes it seem like it is'—Lauren Michele Jackson talks to Khanya Mtshali about her book, White Negroes|date=2020-01-16|website=The Johannesburg Review of Books|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-30}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/11/10/778015473/lauren-michele-jackson-on-white-negroes|title=Lauren Michele Jackson On 'White Negroes'|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=2020-01-30}}
Career
Jackson attended University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for her bachelor's degree. She received her doctoral degree in English Language and Literature from University of Chicago. Her dissertation is titled "Black Vertigo: Nausea, Aphasia, and Bodily Noise, 1970s to the present."{{Cite web|url=https://tableau.uchicago.edu/articles/2019/05/lauren-michele-jackson-doesnt-do-hot-takes|title=Lauren Michele Jackson Doesn't Do Hot Takes {{!}} Tableau|website=tableau.uchicago.edu|access-date=2020-01-30}} In 2019, Jackson was hired at Northwestern University as an assistant professor in the departments of English and African American studies.
Jackson began freelance writing when she was a doctoral student.{{Cite web |date=2022-06-28 |title=Criticism in Public: An interview with Lauren Michele Jackson |url=https://thepointmag.com/dialogue/try-something-out/ |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=The Point Magazine |language=en-US}} She has written for Vulture, The Paris Review, and The New Yorker, among others.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/lauren-michele-jackson-white-negroes-interview/|title=Lauren Michele Jackson Wants to Change How We Talk About Appropriation|last=Kearse|first=Stephen|journal=The Nation|date=2019-11-08|access-date=2020-01-30|language=en-US|issn=0027-8378}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/books/ct-books-fall-preview-lauren-michele-jackson-0901-20190828-zshca5rcjvbxpb474r73fr6mq4-story.html|title=In highly anticipated 'White Negroes,' Lauren Michele Jackson offers nuanced critique of cultural appropriation|last=Pearson|first=Laura|website=chicagotribune.com|access-date=2020-01-30}}
Jackson's debut book, White Negroes: Cornrows Were in Vogue... and Other Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation{{Cite book|title=White Negroes : when cornrows were in vogue ... and other thoughts on cultural appropriation|last=Jackson, Lauren Michele, 1991-|year = 2019|isbn=978-0-8070-1180-5|location=Boston, Massachusetts|oclc=1086481230}} "explores how appropriation manifests in music, art, memes, and more."{{Cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/81057-quietly-curious-pw-talks-with-lauren-michele-jackson.html|title=Quietly Curious: PW Talks with Lauren Michele Jackson|website=PublishersWeekly.com|language=en|access-date=2020-01-30}} It was published by Beacon Press in November 2019.{{Cite web|url=http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/12/white-negroes-author-lauren-michele-jackson-q-and-a.html|title=Lauren Michele Jackson on the Inherent Blackness of Meme Culture|last=Feldman|first=Brian|date=2019-12-05|website=Intelligencer|language=en-us|access-date=2020-01-30}} The title was inspired by the 1957 Norman Mailer essay "The White Negro". Reviewing the book for Vox, Alanna Okun wrote, "Using case studies ranging from the Kardashians to Miley Cyrus to Paula Deen to Big Dick Energy, she explores and pinpoints the term with nuance, curiosity, and wryness."{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/12/5/20995415/lauren-jackson-white-negroes-cultural-appropriation|title=The driving force behind cultural appropriation? Capitalism.|last=Okun|first=Alanna|date=2019-12-05|website=Vox|language=en|access-date=2020-01-30}}
She was named a contributing writer for The New Yorker in September 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/michaelluo/status/1305653416648216576|access-date=2020-09-16|website=Twitter|language=en}}
Bibliography
{{Incomplete list |date=July 2023}}{{bots|deny=Citation bot}}
= Books =
- {{cite book |author=Jackson |first=Lauren Michele |title=White Negroes: When Cornrows Were in Vogue… and Other Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation |publisher=Beacon Press |year=2019 |isbn=9780807011805 |date=}}
= Essays and reporting =
- "[https://www.theawl.com/2016/01/drakes-playground/#.8o13036jl Drake's Playground]" (January 12, 2016) on TheAwl.com
- {{cite journal |author=Jackson, Lauren Michele |date=April 25 – May 2, 2022 |title=American hunger : the journals of Alice Walker |department=The Critics. Books |journal=The New Yorker |volume=98 |issue=10 |pages=66–70 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/04/25/alice-walkers-journals-depict-an-artist-restless-on-her-laurels-gathering-blossoms-under-fire-valerie-boyd }}Online version is titled "Alice Walker's journals depict an artist restless on her laurels".
- {{cite journal |author=Jackson, Lauren Michele |author-mask=1 |date=August 29, 2022 |title=Sorry not sorry : Kim Kardashian and the year of unchecked privilege-checking |department=Dept. of Popular Culture. December 23, 2020 |journal=The New Yorker |volume=98 |issue=26 |pages=66–67 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/2020-in-review/kim-kardashian-and-the-year-of-unchecked-privilege-checking }}Title in the online table of contents is "Kim Kardashian and the limits of checking your privilege".Originally published in the December 23, 2020 issue.
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References
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External links
- [http://www.laurjackson.com/ Official website]
- [https://www.english.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/jackson-lauren.html Faculty page] on Northwestern.edu
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Category:African-American women academics
Category:American women academics
Category:21st-century African-American academics
Category:21st-century American academics
Category:African-American women writers
Category:University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni
Category:University of Chicago alumni
Category:Northwestern University faculty