Ash Stephens

CLJ Faculty

Assistant Professor

Criminology, Law, and Justice

Pronouns: he/him, they/them

Contact

Building & Room:

4074 BSB

Email:

asteph24@uic.edu

About

Ash Stephens is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Justice (CLJ) and affiliated faculty member in Black Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies at UIC. Dr. Stephens holds a PhD in Criminology, Law and Justice with concentrations in Black Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies, and was a part of the Bridge to Faculty Postdoctoral Scholars program, all from UIC. Guided by an abolition feminist framework, his work is focused on the range of ways that trans, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary people are policed and surveilled in society, the experiences and consequences of that policing and surveillance, and strategies that trans, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary people use to resist state-sanctioned violence.

Their research interests include queer criminology, transgender studies, queer of color critique, surveillance studies, critical prison studies, gender-based violence, critical sports studies, and prison industrial complex abolition and activism.

They also teach courses on Sports and Feminism with the Prison Neighborhood Arts and Education Project (PNAP), and are a board member with the Chicago-based organization the Transformative Justice Law Project (TJLP). Several of their public-facing writings can be found in Truthout, In These Times, and The Advocate.

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Papers

Stephens, A. The “Bad Parents”: Gender-Policing of Trans, Gender Nonconforming, and Nonbinary People in U.S. Families. Journal of Family Violence (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-023-00623-6

Walker, A., Petersen, A., Wodda, A., Stephens, A. (2022) Why Don’t We Center Abolition In Queer Criminology? Crime & Delinquency. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287221134595

Walker, A., Valcore, J., Evans, B., and Stephens, A. (2021) Experiences of Trans Scholars in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Critical Criminology. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10612-021-09561-5

Book Chapters

Stephens, Ash. “How Much Do My Black Life Matter? A Conversation with CeCe McDonald and Ky Peterson – Edited and Introduced by Ash Stephens. (2022). Haymarket volume “Abolition Feminisms, Volume 1: Organizing, Survival, & Transformative Practice” by Alisa Bierria (Editor), Jakeya Caruthers (Editor), Brooke Lober (Editor)

Education

Ph.D., Criminology, Law, and Justice, University of Illinois at Chicago
M.A., Criminology, Law, and Justice, University of Illinois at Chicago
B.S., Criminal Justice, Georgia State University