Dr. Veronica Newton joined the Sociology Department in 2018 after completing her Ph.D. at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she also earned a PhD. minor in Black Studies. Her dissertation research explored how Black undergraduate women experienced gendered racism at a historically, predominately white university. Dr. Newton received grants and fellowships for her dissertation work, including the SREB Dissertation Award and the MU Dr. Donald M. Suggs Dissertation Fellowship.

Dr. Newton is an ethnographic qualitative researcher who utilizes a critical race feminist perspective to examine how systems of oppression impact African American women’s lived experiences from an intersectional standpoint. Dr. Newton’s research has focused on Black student’s educational experiences throughout the system of education. While working on her doctorate, she completed a research internship at the Office of State Courts Administrator- Research Section, in Jefferson City, MO, researching the disproportionate minority contact within the juvenile justice system and exploring the school to prison pipeline. Her current research examines Black undergraduate women’s experiences of gendered racial microaggressions in different spaces on college campuses, how Black women create counter spaces on campus for sisterhood support, and resistance as social capital. Dr. Newton’s current research focuses on Black women’s lived experiences at majority Black universities and women’s colleges and how Black undergraduate women navigate microaggressions in gendered and racially marked spaces.

Dr. Newton’s teaching interests include critical race theory, social problems, feminist methodologies and African American studies.