Ivy Ken

Ivy Ken serves as Department Chair and Associate Professor of Sociology and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at George Washington University. They hold appointments in the Department of Sociology, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program, and have affiliations with the Global Women's Institute, Equity Institute, Global Food Institute, and Africana Studies Program. Ken has served as President and Vice President of GWUFA (GWU Faculty Association) and is a recipient of the university's Bender Teaching Award and Robert W. Kenny Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

• PhD, Sociology, University of Georgia, 1999
• MA, Sociology, University of Georgia, 1995
• Certificate in Women's Studies, University of Georgia, 1995
• BA, Sociology and Business, Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, 1993

Professor Ken's research centers on social structures related to race, gender, and class, with a particular focus on food systems, labor issues, and intersectional theory. They are deeply engaged with the Memphis School of intersectionality, which predates and shaped Kimberlé Crenshaw's influential work. Ken's scholarship examines how social structures contribute to inequality in areas ranging from school lunch programs to meatpacking industries, consistently applying an intersectional lens to reveal how race, gender, and class operate as interconnected social structures rather than separate categories.

Recent research demonstrates a strong focus on the meatpacking industry, with Ken receiving a 2024 National Science Foundation grant (with Kenneth Sebastian León) to study rural land use and immigration strategies in this sector. Their publications reveal a consistent pattern of examining how capitalist systems exploit workers, particularly women of color, while maintaining corporate legitimacy through regulatory theater and state-corporate partnerships.

• Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Article Award (2022, American Sociological Association)
• Fulbright Scholar Award (2015)
• Article of the Year Award (2007, Sociological Spectrum)
• Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Article Award (2001, American Sociological Association)

Professor Ken regularly teaches Contemporary Theory, Race, Gender, and Class, The Sociological Imagination, and Food & Workers of the World. They have mentored numerous graduate students through their work with the Global Food Institute and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program. Ken's research has been supported by significant grants including the NSF award in 2024 and Fulbright Scholar Award in 2015. Their collaborative work with Professor K. Sebastian León on the meatpacking industry represents a major current research direction, while their ongoing work on the Memphis School continues to shape intersectional scholarship.

Ken maintains active involvement in academic communities through blog posts, op-eds, and videos addressing topics like caregiver recognition, faculty concerns, food justice, and racial inequality. Their work bridges academic scholarship with public engagement, particularly through contributions to the Women In and Beyond the Global blog and GW Food Institute commentaries.