Africana Studies + Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Welcome New Social Media Program Assistant, De'Anna Daniels

In an effort to enhance and promote the goals, aims, and life of the Africana Studies and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) at Lehigh University, De'Anna Daniels, a graduate student in American Studies at Lehigh University, has been named the inaugural "Social Media Program Assistant" for two Interdisciplinary programs that share much intellectual and programmatic collaborative synergy. The Africana Studies and WGSS program also represent and blend vital aspects of Ms. Daniel's ongoing research interests and developing thesis project. Ms. Daniel's plans to pursue Doctoral Studies after completion of her graduate work at Lehigh.

De’Anna M. Daniels is currently a graduate student in the American Studies program at Lehigh University, where she'll receive an M.A. with a certificate in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Africana Studies focus. Daniels embarked on her journey to Lehigh because it afforded her the opportunity to study in an interdisciplinary setting while having the opportunity to work with prodigious faculty such as Drs. James Braxton Peterson and Monica R. Miller. Her research interests include the intersections of Hip Hop, Womanism, Religion, and Gender. More specifically, the critical examination of Black culture and its cosmological underpinnings through the lens of Black women’s bodies in particular. Originally from Chicago, Daniels received her B.A. in Religious Studies from Alma College in 2010. While at Alma, she contributed to the production, Lady Parts: Biblical Women and The Vagina Monologues. In 2013, she completed a Master’s of Divinity (M.Div) from Union Presbyterian Seminary, where she worked with Womanist scholar, Dr. Katie Cannon and was there too, ordained in the COGIC Reformed church. In May of 2014, at the same institution, Daniels went on to receive a Master’s of Theology (Th.M) with a focus in Theology and Ethics which culminated in a thesis entitled, “Demythologizing Mystopic Realities: A Trill Seminarian Makes it Plain”. The project provided an in depth analysis and explication of the recent and emerging Hip Hop Scholarship, Social Media Activism and Conferences, convergences of Spirituality and Hip Hop and the ethical implications it has on urban millennials. After completing her degree at Lehigh, Daniels plans to continue her academic career by pursing doctoral studies.