Andrea Mays, PhD

Andrea L. Mays holds a PhD in American Studies, focusing on the areas of Black Atlantic Culture, 20th Century African American Culture and Politics, Visual Culture and Gender Studies. She has a M.A. in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies from the University of New Mexico and a B.A. in Communications from George Mason University. Mays teaches courses in Race, Class, and Feminism, and Film and Literature Studies in the Department of American Studies and the Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program at UNM. Mays is an Alumni of the Mellon Foundation Fellowship Program and a UNM Provost General Education Teaching Fellow in Race and Social Justice. She is also an alumnus of The Aspen Institute’s Roundtable on Racial Equity.

Her essays and articles have been published in USA Today, The Albuquerque Journal, The Santa Fe Reporter, and the film Letters to our Daughters directed by native New Mexican filmmaker Christopher Roybal, narrated by Dolores Huerta, Co-Founder and First Vice President Emeritus of the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO. Mays has presented at several regional and national conferences including the SWAPACA Regional Popular Culture Conference (2018 & 2003), SGM Health Summit (2017 & 2015), National Women Studies Association Annual Conference (2003 & 2006), National American Studies Annual Conference (2013 & 2006), The Rocky Mountain American Studies Association Conference (2006), and the Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) in 2007. Mays is an awarding winning lecturer who has facilitated numerous panels on Race and Gender in Media with a range of scholars and media professionals including Academy Award winning Actress Marisa Tomei and the Hugo and Emmy Award winning creator of Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin and Hugo and Booker Prize winning author Marlon James .