Assistant Professor of American Culture and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan
About
Ava Purkiss' research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of race, gender, and health. Her book-in-progress examines African American women's physical exercise in the twentieth century, with particular attention to how exercise enabled black women to express both literal and figurative fitness for citizenship. Purkiss received her PhD in history from the University of Texas at Austin and received the 2017 Organization of American Historians Lerner-Scott Prize for best dissertation in US women's history.
Current Work:
Purkiss' scholarship examines the effect of physical exercise on African American women’s health, beauty culture, recreational practices, and definitions of citizenship. It places black women squarely within the history of American fitness culture and compels scholars to rethink assumptions about black women's mobility and physicality.
Research Area Keyword(s):
Black women's history
