Education

• Ph.D. Humanities, Clark Atlanta University, 2017
• M.A. Africana Women's Studies, Clark Atlanta University, 2011
• B.A. Political Science, North Carolina A&T State University, 2006

Research Interests

• Black queer studies
• Intersectional feminisms
• Black feminist studies
• Black women's history
• Black female sexuality
• Black lesbianism
• Southern (U.S. South) studies
• Black Church
• Black women’s activism and political participation

Select Publications

• Canty, Jayme, “‘The ‘Swelling Wave of Oppression’: An Intersectional Study to Evaluate the Health Challenges of Self-Identified Black Queer Women in the American South.” Book chapter in Black Women and Public Health: Regenerative History, Practice, and Planning; Black Women's Wellness Book Series, State University of New York (SUNY) Press.(APA)
• Canty, Jayme, “Rape," "Black Church," and "Audre Lorde Project" entries. In Angela Jones, Ed, African American Activism and Political Engagement: An Encyclopedia of Empowerment. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. In Press, released Spring 2022

Affiliations

• The Association for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality in the South
• National Association of Women’s Studies
• National Council of Black Studies

Courses

• Black Queer Politics: Resistance, Power, and the Quest for Universal Freedom

Links

• Faculty page, Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies
• Intersections in the Lives of LGBTQIA+ Communities, VCU iCubed

Commitment to African American Studies

Canty has extensive teaching experience within the field of African American and Africana Studies. She is currently teaching a cross listed course at VCU titled Black Queer Politics which is rooted in the Black experience and utilizes a Black feminist lens to evaluate the ways Black queer identity politics manifest itself within the political realm. The course is cross listed for Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, African American Studies, and Political Science students. At University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Canty was a visiting professor in the African American and African Diasporic department, teaching three introductory courses in African American Studies. Within the course, she tries to expose the student to discussions of oppression and liberation as it relates to African persons throughout the diaspora. She also applies Karenga’s notion of Black studies as a space of agency for African Americans. Canty created a master course on Canvas for future African American Studies professors to use. At Kennesaw State University, she taught a cross-listed African American Studies and Gender/Women’s Studies course entitled “Black Feminisms”/ “The Black Woman”. In this course, her and the students evaluate the significance of Black women’s experiences in determining Black feminism and gender consciousness. Within this analysis, she is inclusive of Black women in the scholarship as well as the voices of Southern Black women, Pan-African women, hip hop feminism, and Black queer women. At Spelman College, she taught African Diaspora and the World, which is an interdisciplinary course that focuses on the experiences of African diasporic persons as a result of colonization and enslavement as well as how these individuals attempted to liberate themselves from these structural realities. Canty focuses primarily on how these diasporic experiences vary based on gender. Her attempt in this course is to show her students the ways in which gender identity and experiences change as a result of diasporic experiences and identities.

In terms of research, Canty focuses on the ways race, gender and sexuality manifest in the American South, impacting the lives of Black queer lesbian women and persons living in or from the American South. She conducted oral history research on the social experiences of Southern Black queer lesbian women and persons, particularly the way the Christian Black Church impacts the lives of Southern Black queer lesbian women. From these extensive interviews, Canty successfully submitted a book proposal for a manuscript with SUNY Press entitled, "Snapping beans: Voices of a Black queer lesbian South."