Jessica Kenyatta Walker

Jessica Kenyatta Walker holds dual appointments as Assistant Professor in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies and the Department of American Culture at the University of Michigan. Her research critically examines the intersections of food culture, race, gender, and citizenship through historical and popular cultural lenses.

Her groundbreaking manuscript Her Kitchen is The World: Black Women and the Culture of Soul Food analyzes soul food as a contested site of Black representation in popular media, linking culinary practices to national identity, gender roles, and labor dynamics. Dr. Walker's pedagogy emphasizes anti-racist mentorship, expanding frameworks for analyzing race and gender in food studies, and supporting underrepresented students through initiatives like the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program.

Her scholarship bridges historical analysis with contemporary cultural critique, addressing topics such as USDA home demonstration programs, mental health in Black culinary labor, and the ideological weight of domestic spaces in shaping racial narratives. This work challenges reductive portrayals of Black women's food practices while centering intersectional perspectives in food studies.

Dr. Walker actively mentors students in reimagining food systems through an equity lens and collaborates across disciplines to advance DEI initiatives in higher education.