Travis D. Boyce

Dr. Travis D. Boyce serves as Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of African American Studies within the College of Social Sciences at San José State University. His scholarly work centers on the African American experience, with specific attention to the history of American higher education, the Civil Rights Movement, 20th century history, sports activism, and fashion studies.

Dr. Boyce completed his undergraduate studies in history at Claflin University, a private historically Black university in Orangeburg, South Carolina. He earned an M.A. in history and a Ph.D. in cultural studies from Ohio University.

His research explores critical dimensions of African American life and history. Notable contributions include his authored book Steady and Measured: Benner C. Turner, A Black College President in the Jim Crow South (2023) and co-edited volume Historicizing Fear: Ignorance, Vilification, and Othering (2020). Currently, he is researching a biography of his grandfather, A.J. Whittenberg, Sr., a civil rights activist who led Greenville, South Carolina's school desegregation.

Dr. Boyce actively contributes to academic governance through editorial and organizational leadership. He serves on the editorial boards of Fashion, Style, and Popular Culture Journal and The Journal of Popular Culture, and holds a board position with the South Carolina Historical Association. His affiliations include life memberships in Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Association for the Study of African American Life and History, National Council for Black Studies, Association for Ethnic Studies, Popular Culture Association, and Southern Historical Association. He also chairs the Black/African American Studies area for the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association.