Jeffrey Q. McCune, an associate professor of African and African American studies and of women, gender, and sexuality studies at Washington University in St. Louis, will become the Director of the Frederick Douglass Institute (FDI) on June 1, 2021. 

Until then, Kristin Doughty, associate professor of anthropology and director of the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies (SBAI), will serve as an interim director, according to a UR NewsCenter release from earlier this morning.

McCune is no stranger to UR. From 2006-2007, McCune was a postdoctoral fellow at FDI and held a faculty associate position at SBAI. In the same year, he earned his PhD in performance studies — with a focus on African American studies and gender studies — from Northwestern University.

McCune also holds a bachelor’s in speech/theater and secondary education from Cornell College in Iowa and a masters in communications from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. McCune’s book, Sexual Discretion: Black Masculinity and the Politics of Passing holds awards from both Choice Magazine and the National Communication Association’s Caucus on LGBTQ Concerns and GLBTQ Communication Studies Division.

FDI, which has been on the hunt for a new director since December 2018, was founded in 1986 to promote research of African and African American studies at UR.



Frederick Douglass Institute director appointed after two-year search

Beer started his track and field career in his junior year of high school. “My friends were on the track and field team in high school and I thought I’d give it a shot because it seemed fun,” Beer said. “Plus my high school coach begged me to join the team.” He started competing in the field events and never looked back. Read More

Frederick Douglass Institute director appointed after two-year search

If you’re on the executive board of one of our 280+ student clubs and organizations, you’ve probably either intentionally or unintentionally overshared to your poor club advisor at an ungodly hour, holding them hostage, preventing them from leaving their office. Read More