Dorian Brown Crosby, Ph.D.

Biography 

Faculty Member Since 2006

Dr. Brown Crosby is a teacher and scholar-activist dedicated to bridging cultures through education. Her global and local activities infuse her teaching and research. She is committed to equipping students to take their places in the world. 

Dr. Brown Crosby is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Spelman College. A faculty-mentor and board member of the College's Social Justice Program and the inaugural and former director of cultural orientation in the Gordon-Zeto Center for Global Education at Spelman. Dr. Brown Crosby graduated Cum Laude from Spelman with a B.A. in Political Science and earned her M.A. in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware. 

She earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia. Her research focuses on resettled African refugees in the United States’ southeastern region, placing her work in multiple contexts such as Forced Migration Studies, American Government, Women’s Studies, Ethnic and Racial Politics, and International Relations. She is the current president of the Southern Region of the International Studies Association. She is the first African American to hold this position.

Dr. Brown Crosby is also the founding director of Spelman's refugee and forced migration studies minor. It is the first and only minor at Spelman covering refugees and forced migration; and the only HBCU with a minor in refugees and forced migration. 

Her first book, "Somalis in the Neo-South: African Immigration, Politics and Race" (2020, Peter Lang), draws upon her research with resettled Somali communities in Clarkston, Georgia, and Nashville, Tennessee. Her current research focuses on the voting patterns and motivations of former African refugees in the Southeastern region of the United States.

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT

Listen to the 2014 Ghanian radio interview featuring Drs. Dorian Crosby and Veta Goler. They traveled to Africa with 27 Spelman students on the College's first CIEE sponsored trip to Ghana. The interview aired on May 23, 2014 and was heard throughout the country.

Dr. Brown Crosby's TV interview with Steve Goodman (Higher Education Today)

CONSULTATION

Massara, K. (2010). The Gangs of Omaha: Sudanese Who Fled Their War-Torn Country Face Growing Violence in Their Ranks.

GRANTS

• Social Justice Development Grant (2014)
• Gordon-Zeto Center Curriculum Development Grant (2013)
• Spelman Campus Leadership Initiatives Grant (2008)
• Nebraska Humanities Council Grant ( 2005)

Education

• Ph.D., Clark Atlanta University
• M.A., University of Delaware
• B.A., Spelman College

Courses Taught

• PSC 190 Introduction to Political Science
• PSC 201 National Government in the U.S.
• PSC 202 State and Local Government
• PSC 312 Public Administration and Public Policy
• PSC 322 Legislative Process
• PSC 328 Forced Migration in and from Africa (Service-Learning Course)
• First-Year Experience
• Study Travel Seminar (College Wide)

Select Publications

Dr. Crosby has written and contributed to numerous publications on displaced persons, resettled refugees and her pedagogical approach.

Crosby, D. B. (2020). Somalis in the Neo-South: African Immigration, Politics and Race.

Crosby, Dorian Brown. “Researching the Political and Civic Engagement of Somali Refugees in the U.S. South Using Semi-Structured Interviews.” SAGE Research Methods Cases, 2019.

Brown Crosby, Dorian, Melvinia Turner King, Marionette Holmes, Charles Moses, and Willie Rockward. “Deliberating Politics and the Economy: Perspectives of African American College Students.” 2018. The National Political Science Review 19, no. 1: 122-143.

Brown Crosby, Dorian, and Shenita R. Brazelton. "The Disadvantages of African American and Somali Men in the U.S. Criminal Justice System." Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men 6, no. 1 (2017): 99-120.

Crosby, Dorian Brown and Janita Heslup Bah. 2017. “Affirmative Action." Crosby, Dorian Brown. Refugees of Color: Starting the Conversation.” The Journal of Race and Policy 12, no. 2 (Fall/Winter): 39-50.

Crosby, D. B. (2012). Meeting the Challenge: Teaching Sensitive Subject Matter. The Journal of Effective Teaching, 12(2), 93-104.

Crosby, D. B. (2009). The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Atlanta: Somali Crisis Not Far for Clarkston.”

Crosby, D. B. (2008). Resettled Somali women in Georgia and changing gender roles. Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies, 6(1), 9.