Giovanni N. Dortch

Giovanni N. Dortch serves as an Associate Professor of Teaching in the Department of Sociology at the University of Memphis, integrating sociological, women's studies, and political science perspectives to address critical health disparities and policy issues.

Education:

• Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies, Texas Woman's University
• Master of Arts in Liberal Studies/Women’s Studies, University of Memphis
• Undergraduate degrees in Political Science and International Relations, University of Memphis
• International studies at University of Ghana-Legon Campus, West Africa

Her research focuses on health equity, social determinants of health, and HIV prevention through a reproductive justice lens, with specialized attention to Black women's health disparities. As a decade-long HIV prevention advocate and Reproductive Justice activist, she develops culturally competent health interventions including trauma-informed trainings and educational literature. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges academic scholarship with community-based advocacy, exemplified by her eleven-issue comic series LUNA: Unleashed promoting safe relationships and HIV awareness.

No scientific awards were documented in the source material.

Professor Dortch actively shapes health policy through legislative advocacy, having lobbied Congress and Tennessee state representatives to pass women's health protections. She teaches core sociology courses including Contemporary Social Problems, Sociology of Gender, and Introduction to Sociology while maintaining her current role as a Health Policy Scholar at Meharry Medical College focusing on health equity frameworks.