Professor Deidre Hill Butler is a Sociologist of Black Joy. She specializes in Womanist ethnography and examines resistance to anti-Black racism and Misogynoir. At the heart of her work is the curiosity of Black women’s ways of knowing and reimaginings.
Deidre Hill Butler has taught internationally and on campus. Her regularly taught courses are Sociology of Black Religious Experiences, Political Sociology #Blacklivesmatter, and Sociology of the American Family: Cross-Cultural Perspectives.
Her forthcoming book, Beyond Mammies and Matriarchs: Visibility of Black Stepmothers with SUNY Press, reveals the interior lives of womanist stepmothers. Her work appears in various edited volumes and interdisciplinary journals, including Afro-Americans in New York Life and History: An Interdisciplinary Journal and the Journal of the Association for the Research on Mothering. She also guest-edited a special edition of the Journal of Pan African Studies (JPAS) on Africana mothering.
Curator. “Revitalized Community” A Community Engaged Photo Exhibit,” Union College, Schaffer Library, September 19- November 21, 2016. Opening Reception September 20, 2016.
Curator. “Revitalized Community” A Community Engaged Photo Exhibit,” Bordeaux Branch, Nashville Public Library, Nashville, Tennessee, November 5 – December 31, 2015. Opening Reception November 5, 2015.
Professor Deidre Hill Butler was the first Black woman on the teaching faculty to earn tenure and the first Black woman to earn the rank of Full Professor.
Dr. Deidre Hill Butler was an inaugural member of the President’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging team as Director of Faculty Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging / Academic Diversity Officer, where she contributed to faculty recruitment and retention efforts and chaired the History and Symbols Committee. She co-founded the BIPOC Employee Alliance, Union Coalition for Inclusiveness and Diversity (UCID), and Women of Color Collective. As a community equity catalyst, Professor Hill Butler is a board member and on the personnel committee at Safe Inc., an emergency shelter serving homeless and runaway youth in the Capital District. She volunteers regularly and is a member of the Community Engagement Team at Keane Elementary School. She is a member of the Schenectady Branch of the NAACP. Additionally, she is a leader in the Women’s Ministries at the oldest Black Church in Schenectady, the Duryee Memorial AME Zion Church. She is the Chaplain for the local graduate chapter, Delta Mu Omega Chapter, of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.
UNITAS Faculty & Staff Resource
Group Advocate BIPOC
Employee Alliance Women of Color Collective
Multicultural Greek Council Faculty Advisor
