Dr. DaShanne Stokes (Wiki, pronounced Duh-Shane) is a sociologist and educator.
Stokes is an expert in power, politics, and inequalities, with a focus on the intersections of American and international politics, race, gender, sexualities, Native American studies, postcolonialism, and crime. He is particularly interested in revealing the hidden power dynamics, contradictions, and ideologies that drive abuse of power, crime, and discrimination.
Stokes is a research associate at the University of Pittsburgh. He has taught at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Kentucky, and frequently teaches at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His peer-reviewed work has appeared in scholarly books as well as academic journals like the International Review of Sociology and the American Indian Culture and Research Journal. His work has appeared in university textbooks. Dr. Stokes has also presented his original research numerous times at prestigious national academic conferences like the American Sociological Association and the Society for the Study of Social Problems.
Dr. Stokes is a highly sought-after speaker, commentator, and analyst. In addition to his invited talks at universities, he has also been a political commentator and analyst featured in national and international media, such as the BBC, Sky News Tonight, MSN, and NPR (IMDb). Stokes is also featured in the forthcoming documentary, “Charisma: The Will to Power,” by Palawan Productions.
In addition to his scholarship, Dr. Stokes frequently engages with the broader public. Dr. Stokes' writing has been featured in outlets like HuffPost, Diverse, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Advocate. Independent research has found that Dr. Stokes' work influenced public debate surrounding the Donald Trump presidency. Stokes has also been quoted globally by world leaders, overseas elected officials, former members of the U.S. Congress, political candidates, celebrities, social movement leaders, religious leaders, and hundreds of times around the world in books, scholarly journals, and major outlets like People, USA Today, Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, and MSN.
Prior to becoming an academic in 2019, Dr. Stokes served as the founding Executive Director (2005-2008) of Religious Freedom with Raptors (RFR). Under DaShanne’s leadership, RFR informed national discourse about Native American rights and made a significant and lasting impact. Stokes’ work was instrumental in mobilizing opposition that successfully changed the language of California State Senate bill AB1729 (2007) to protect the religious freedom of over 400,000 Native American people. Stokes' work was also cited as an authority in the appellant brief and motion for summary judgment in McAllen Grace Brethren Church v. Salazar (764 F.3d 465, 5th Cir. 2014), a ground-breaking court case which opened the door for Native American members of state-recognized tribes to acquire eagle feathers for religious and spiritual needs.
In 2016, Stokes' work originating the idea and original design elements of the #MeToo emoji raised the visibility and impact of the global #MeToo movement, which was featured as Time magazine's 2017 Person of the Year.
Dr. Stokes grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada. He received his doctorate in sociology from the University of Pittsburgh, a master's from Minnesota State University in sociology, a second master's in psychology from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Science in biology from The University of South Dakota.
Bookings
For media inquiries, please contact media (at) dashannestokes (dot) com.
For speaking inquiries, please contact speaking (at) dashannestokes (dot) com.
