Associate Professor

Race, Ethnicity, & Migration Studies

Dwanna L. McKay (formerly Robertson) is a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and joined the Race, Ethnicity, and Migration Studies program in 2016. Professor McKay centers her teaching, research, service, and activism on an overall commitment to social justice. Raised within the boundaries of her tribal nation in Oklahoma, McKay understands the definitive disadvantage of growing up in a rural area steeped in discrimination and how that manifests in constrained access to basic needs like housing, healthcare, employment opportunities, and equitable education. McKay fuses active research and teaching agendas in social inequality, intersectionality, critical race theory, and indigenous identity with broad interdisciplinary knowledge.

Focus Areas

• Indigenous studies including Indigenous identity, epistemologies, and methodologies
• Critical race theory; legitimized racism theory
• Gendered race processes in work and occupations
• Sociohistorical inequality of race, ethnicity, and national identity
• Social institutions of crime, health, and education

Publications

Refereed

2022. Dwanna L. McKay. “Mvskoke Eckvlke (Muscogee Motherhood) in Academic Spaces.” Pp. XX-XX in Indigenous Motherhood in the Academy, edited by Robin Starr Minthorn, Christine A. Nelson, and Heather J. Shotton. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Available April 15. https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/indigenous-motherhood-in-the-academy/9781978816374

2021. Dwanna L. McKay. “Real Indians: Policing or Protecting Authentic Indigenous Identity?” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 7(1):12-25.

2020. Dwanna L. McKay, Sara Mata, and Stephany Parker. “Flipping the Script Towards Health Equity: A Call for Native Land Acknowledgment.” Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 52(10): 905.

2020. Dwanna L. McKay, Kirsten Vinyeta, and Kari Norgaard. “Theorizing Race and Settler Colonialism within US Sociology.” Sociology Compass 14(9): published online August 4, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12821

2020. Dwanna L. McKay. “The Normalcy of Legitimized Racism Against Indigenous Peoples.” Pp. 190-195 in Racism in America: A Reference Handbook, edited by Stephen Foy. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.

2019. Dwanna L. McKay. “Masking Legitimized Racism: Indigeneity, Colorblindness, and the Sociology of Race.” Pp. 85-104 in Seeing Race Again: Countering Colorblindness across the Disciplines, edited by Kimberlé Crenshaw, Luke Harris, Daniel Martinez HoSang, and George Lipsitz. Oakland: University of California Press.

2017. Dwanna L. Robertson. “The Very Best Justice.” Snapdragon: A Journal of Art and Healing 3(3):87-88.

2016. Dwanna L. Robertson. “Decolonizing the Academy with Subversive Acts of Indigenous Research: A Review of Yakama Rising and Bad Indians.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 2(2): 248-252.

2015. Dwanna L. Robertson. “Invisibility in the Color-Blind Era: Examining Legitimized Racism Against Indigenous Peoples.” American Indian Quarterly 39(2): 113-152.

2013. Dwanna L. Robertson. “A Necessary Evil: Framing an American Indian Legal Identity.” American Indian Culture and Research Journal 37 (4): 115-139.

2013. Jeffrey C. Dixon, Andrew S. Fullerton, and Dwanna L. Robertson. “Cross-National Differences in Workers’ Perceived Job, Labor Market, and Employment Insecurity in Europe: Empirical Tests and Theoretical Extensions.” European Sociological Review 29 (5): 1053-1067.

2013. Dwanna L. Robertson. “Economic Aspects of U.S. Relations with Native Americans.” Pp. 16-18 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Business, Labor, and Economic History, Vol. II, edited by Melvyn Dubofsky. New York: Oxford University Press.

2011. Andrew S. Fullerton, Dwanna L. Robertson, and Jeffrey C. Dixon. “Reexamining the Relationship between Flexibility and Insecurity: A Multilevel Study of Perceived Job Insecurity in 27 European Countries.” Research in the Sociology of Work 22:11-43.

2011. Andrew S. Fullerton and Dwanna L. Robertson. “Labor Rights after the Flexible Turn: The Rise of Contingent Employment and the Implications for Worker Rights in the U.S.” Pp. 29-45 in In Our Own Backyard: Human Rights, Injustice, and Resistance in the U.S., edited by William T. Armaline, Davita Silfen Glasberg, and Bandana Purkayastha. Philadelphia, PA: UPenn Press.

2010. Stephany Parker, Dwanna Robertson, Janice Herman, Teresa Jackson, and Sarah Miracle. “Utilizing an Ecological Perspective as a Framework for Understanding Native American Elders’ Views of Diabetes for the Development of Indigenous Prevention Programs.” USDA Economic Research Service: Research, Innovation, and Development Grants.

Public Scholarship

2021. Dwanna L. McKay. “Indian Territory: The Birthplace of Extraordinary.” Pp. 31-36 in the exhibition catalogue, Leon Polk Smith: Hiding in Plain Sight. Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ.

2020. Dwanna L. McKay. “Oklahoma is—and has always been—Native Land.” The Conversation. Published July 16.

2018. Dwanna L. Robertson. “Belonging.” Colorado College Bulletin. Published Spring.

2017. Dwanna L. Robertson, executive producer.  “Force/Resistance: From Standing Rock to Colorado Springs.” Documentary Film, Fine Arts Center, Colorado College.

2017. Dwanna L. Robertson. “Dear Indigenous Family.” Letters to the Revolution. Published January 1.

2014. Dwanna L. Robertson. “No Surprise, But We All Should Matter.” Indian Country Today Media Network, December 3.

2014. Dwanna L. Robertson. “The Trees Danced for Us.” Indian Country Today Media Network, April 18.

2014. Dwanna L. Robertson. “Pretty Girl in a Headdress: Cultural Appropriation Gets Ugly.” Indian Country Today Media Network, March 31.

2013. Dwanna L. Robertson. “What I learned from an Elder about Coping with Racism.” Indian Country Today Media Network, November 28.

2013. Dwanna L. Robertson. “Dousing the Pocahottie Stereotype.” Indian Country Today Media Network, November 19.

2013. Dwanna L. Robertson. “Playing ‘Indian’ and Color-Blind Racism.” Indian Country Today Media Network, September 30.

2013. Dwanna L. Robertson. “Fighting Bigotry by Planting Seeds of Social Justice for All.” Indian Country Today Media Network, September 9.

2012. Dwanna L. Robertson. “Breast Cancer Awareness: Taking the Pink Road.” Indian Country Today Media Network, October 24.

Regular Classes

RM185: Introduction to the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity
RM215: Research Design: Method and Theory
RM218: Critical Analysis of Quantitative Data
RM200: Introduction to Indigenous Studies
RM300: Gender, Race, and Crime