Shannon Speed

Dr. Shannon Speed, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, is a multidisciplinary scholar at UCLA, holding appointments as Professor in Gender Studies, Anthropology, and as Director of the American Indian Studies Center. She also serves as Special Advisor to the Chancellor on Native American and Indigenous Affairs, and was recently named the Paula Gunn Allen Chair in Gender Studies.

Research Interests: Her work intersects Indigenous sovereignty, gender, neoliberalism, and social justice, often employing activist research methodologies to address violence against Indigenous women, migration patterns, and decolonial frameworks. She is currently collaborating with her tribal nation on a book project, Chickasaw Rising.

Scientific Awards:

• Chickasaw Dynamic Woman of the Year
• American Anthropological Association President’s Award
• Marty Sklar My Last Lecture Award (2023)

Dr. Speed’s publications focus on Indigenous women’s experiences, structural violence, and activist scholarship. Her research bridges settler colonial studies, feminist theory, and Indigenous legal/political resurgence, with notable works on the intersections of neoliberal capitalism and Indigenous displacement.