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FELICIA A. HENRY-CONTEH
Department of Sociology
American University
Washington, D.C.
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2024- Assistant Professor (Tenure-Track), Department of Sociology, American University
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Sociology, University of Delaware 2024
Dissertation: “I knew it was COVID; I knew I was on probation”: The Impact of the Carceral State on Black Women’s Disaster Experience. Professor Tricia Wachtendorf, committee chair
* George Herbert Ryden Prize in the Social Sciences for Outstanding Dissertation
Master of Social Work, University of Pennsylvania 2015
Bachelor of Social Work, Temple University 2014
RESEARCH EXPERTISE
Race, ethnicity, gender, class, carceral studies, arts-based activism, critical criminology, disasters and the environment, and social vulnerability
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Fall 2025 Arts-Based Activism and the Carceral State, American University
Racial Inequality and Social Transformation, American University
Spring 2025/6 U.S. Society in Global Perspective, American University
Spring 2023 Lecturer, Race and Society, University of Delaware
Fall 2022 Adjunct Instructor, Disaster Resilience Academy Institute, Tulane University
ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS
Henry-Conteh, F.A. (2026). The impossibility of habitability: The carceral state as ecological catastrophe. Sociology Compass. https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/soc4.70172
Kupchik, A., & Henry, F. (2025). The legacy of racial injustice: Historical resistance to desegregation and contemporary suspension rates. In Suspended Education School Punishment and the Legacy of Racial Injustice. (pp. 61–80). New York University Press.
GUEST EDITOR
Henry-Conteh, F.A., Ayala, Y.I., Campbell, N., Tierney, K., Rios-Contreras, N., & Leon-Corwin, M. (Eds.). (2025). Using critical perspectives to explore disasters through shifting climates. [Special issue]. Disaster Prevention and Management. https://www.emerald.com/dpm/issue/34/4
UNDER REVIEW
Henry-Conteh, F.A. (2026). when breath becomes dare. [Manuscript submitted for publication]. Adwoa Onuora, A., University, T., & Fearon, S. (Eds). Arts-based research and artful approaches as Black homeplace. [Special issue]. Art/Research International: A Transdisciplinary Journal.
Henry-Conteh, F.A. (2026). The fallacy of freedom. [Book prospectus submitted for review].
Henry-Conteh, F.A. (2025). “The only thing that COVID did was put an extra height on it”: Black women under community supervision during COVID-19. Women and Criminal Justice.
Henry-Conteh, F.A. (2025). Doing Them Justice: Using Artivism to Amplify the Voices of Black Women in the Carceral State. [Manuscript submitted for publication]. Palmer, J., and Rajah, V. (Eds). “Scholar-Activism.” New York University Press.
GRANTS
Principal Investigator
The Fallacy of Freedom manuscript expenses, funded by the Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) ($2464). (2026)
Curator/Artist
Pam’s Kitchen: Preserving Afro-Caribbean Food Pathways in the U.S., a multi-part visual and exhibit-based project that highlights the unique nature of Afro-Caribbean culture through food and belonging, funded by Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC), Creative Grants for Projects Program ($4,000). (2026)
Artist
Pam’s Kitchen: Preserving Afro-Caribbean Food Pathways in the U.S., a multi-part visual and exhibit-based project that highlights the unique nature of Afro-Caribbean culture through food and belonging, funded by the Ruby Arts Grant of the Deutsch Foundation ($2500). (2025)
Co-Curator//Principal Investigator
What Freedom Cost, a co-curated multi-part visual and performance-based project funded by the Mellon Foundation (through American University) ($1,600) with Collaborator Nandi Kaye of Nature is Balm, LLC. (2025)
Co-Curator//Principal Investigator
What Freedom Cost, a co-curated multi-part visual and performance-based project funded by the Mellon Foundation (through American University) ($2,500), with Collaborator Nandi Kaye of Nature is Balm, LLC. (2024)
Co-Curator/Project Lead
What Freedom Cost, a co-curated multi-part visual and performance-based project funded by the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC), Creative Grants for Projects Program ($4,000), with Collaborator Nandi Kaye of Nature is Balm, LLC. (2024)
Principal Investigator
“Compounded Vulnerability: The Impact of Disasters on Community Supervision,” funded by Arnold Ventures Foundation (AV) ($99,993) with Co-Principal Investigator Tricia Wachtendorf (2/1/24-1/31/26)
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT/TRAINING
(2025) Black Arts. Black Pedagogies. Black Futures., dialogic, performative, and pedagogical program that resonates with the imaginative and self-determined artistic, pedagogical, and knowledge practices of the Black Diaspora in Europe and the United States, sponsored by The Space for Creative Black Imagination, Inc. (Baltimore, MD) and Metro54 (Amsterdam, The Netherlands). Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
(2025) Community Voices Initiative: A Storytelling Course, training on the practice of oral history and ethical storytelling, sponsored by Voice of Witness (VOW). Virtual.
(2025) Porches Writing Residency/Retreat, The Porches, Norwood, VA.
(2024) Course Design Institute, Center for Teaching, Research, and Learning (CTRL) at American University. Washington, D.C.
SELECT CURATORIAL WORK AND EXHIBITS
Co-Curator
shifted(u), an exploration of the reach of the carceral state in the U.S., and ways that art can be used to shift perspectives, humanize those involved in the criminal legal system, and offer new possibilities for connection, belonging, and care. Final project of Arts-Based Activism and the Carceral State (SOCY-358). (Fall 2025). Hosted by the American University Library.
Convener/Panelist
Transcendent Resilience: Black Women, Artivism, and the Carceral State explores the powerful intersection of art, activism, and systemic injustice through the lens of Black women’s lived experiences. Newark, DE (Spring 2025). Sponsored by the University of Delaware (UD) Museum Studies and Public Engagement Program, UD Library Special Collections.
Curator/Artist
Artivism and the Experiences of Black Women Under Court Supervision During COVID-19: A Re-Exhibit of Felicia Henry’s “I’m Literally Taking It Out the Mud.” A Social Justice Course Creation. Newark, DE (Fall 2024).
Curator
I'm Literally Taking It Out the Mud: An Arts Exhibition Honoring Black Women’s Resistance in the Criminal Legal System with Collaborators Jane and Littleton Mitchell Center for African American Heritage, Janay Nachel, Wendell Sisnett, and Joshua Kumar. Newark, DE (August 2023) https://youtu.be/_42uEnHx8NQ?si=0XzVGheWWoXRFGGK
PRESENTATIONS
Midgyett, D., & Henry-Conteh, F.A. (November 2025). Probation and parole: Community supervision in the time of COVID-19. Presentation at American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.
Henry, F.A. (June 2024). "It’s just another form of slav—slavery..." Black Women Under Community Supervision Reckoning with the Carceral State". Presentation at Law and Society Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.
Henry, F.A. (May 2024). (Re)Imagined Futures: The Power of Artivism in Disasters and Climate Change. Featured presentation at the Disaster Research Center 60th Anniversary Workshop. Newark, DE.
Henry, F.A., Muhammad, T., Ludwig, J., Hamilton, N., Kelley, S. and Donaldson, R. (May 2024). Prison Prisms: Museums, Carceral History, and Criminal Justice Reform. Presentation at the American Alliance of Museums 2024 Annual Meeting and Museum Expo. Baltimore, MD.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Henry-Conteh, F.A. (2026). Eternal supervision in the carceral state. The Sociologist. https://dcsociologicalsociety.org/The-Sociologist#current
Henry-Conteh, F.A., Ayala, Y.I., & Rios-Contreras, N. (2025). Critical perspectives in times of uncertainty. Disaster Prevention and Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-08-2025-435
Henry, F.A. (2024). Amplifying Marginalized Voices: Arts-Based Activism and Disasters. Research Counts, 6(SC3). Special Collection on Equity and Inclusion in Disaster. Boulder, CO: Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder. https://hazards.colorado.edu/news/research-counts/amplifying-marginalized-voices-arts-based-activism-and-disasters
KEYNOTE, INVITED SPEECHES, FEATURED TALKS, and WEBINARS
Henry-Conteh, F.A. (April 23, 2025). Organizer and Panelist, Carceral Storytelling Collaborations, with Tyrell Muhammad, Jeff Ludwig, Tee Ramdeo, Joshua Dubler, and Kristin Doughty. Virtual.
Henry-Conteh, F.A. (March 5, 2025). Moderator, Fireside Chat with Jeanelle Austin. University of Delaware.
Henry-Conteh, F.A. (February 18, 2025). Guest Lecturer, Race, Class, and Gender and the Context of Intersectionality. Social Theory. American University.
Henry-Conteh, F.A. (February 14, 2025). Guest Speaker, Penn State Department of Geography Coffee Hour. Pennsylvania State University.
DEPARTMENTAL SERVICE
Events Committee Co-Chair, American University. 2025-Present.
Undergraduate Committee Member, American University. 2024-Present.
UNIVERSITY SERVICE
Member, Social Work Minor Working Group. 2025-Present.
Undergraduate Research Advisor. 2024-Present.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Editorial Board, Disaster Prevention and Management. 2025-Present.
Peer Reviewer, Sociological Spectrum. 2026-Present.
Peer Reviewer, SOULS. 2025-Present.
Peer Reviewer, Journal of Human Rights Practice. 2024- Present.
Peer Reviewer, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. 2023- Present.
Peer Reviewer, Disaster Prevention and Management. 2023- Present.
Peer Reviewer, Critical Criminology. 2023- Present.
Peer Reviewer, Natural Hazards Review. 2020- Present.
MEMBERSHIPS IN PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Alumni, William (Bill) Averette Anderson Fund.
Member, American Sociological Association. 2019-present.
Member, Law and Society Association. 2019-present.
Member, American Society of Criminology. 2019-present.
Member, American Probation and Parole Association. 2019-present.
OTHER AFFILIATIONS
Alumni, Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware.