Leslie Kay Jones

Dr. Leslie Kay Jones is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Rutgers University, specializing in social movements, race, gender, and digital sociology. She co-directs the Digital Sociology Collective with Drs. Rachel Durso and Francesca Tripodi, and is actively involved in digital humanities initiatives. Her research examines how Black feminists use social media to produce intellectual discourse, challenging traditional academic boundaries.

She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania where she held fellowships at the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy and the Price Lab for Digital Humanities. Her work includes analyzing the BlackLivesMatter movement through the lens of social drama theory and studying online platforms like PeopleofWalmart.com to understand marginalization dynamics.

Leslie co-founded the Digital Sociology Mini-Conference, which evolved into the Annual Digital Sociology Unconference. Her teaching focuses on qualitative and computer-assisted methods, including digital ethnography. She emphasizes the importance of centering marginalized voices in sociological discourse to maintain the discipline's relevance.