A native of Belfry, Kentucky, Ashley M. Browning (she/her) is currently residing in the rural hills of the Cumberland Plateau with her spouse, Tyler and their feline fur babies, Frances Beans and Mud. She completed an undergraduate thesis titled “An Empirical Analysis of the Effectiveness of Strain Theory: An Explanation of Delinquency Among Incarcerated Youth” (Correctional & Juvenile Justice Studies, BS; Eastern Kentucky University) and a graduate thesis titled “Community Perceptions of Prescription Drug Abuse in Eastern Kentucky” (Sociology, MS; East Tennessee State University).

Ashley is deeply passionate about social justice and finds creative ways to show up for her community. As a full-time employee of the University, Ashley does not receive funding or serve in an academic or research position for the Department of Sociology. She is studying in the Critical Race & Ethnic Studies concentration and will earn a graduate certificate in Social Justice Education as her secondary area. Her Major Area Paper, titled “Whose Culture? Whose Knowledge? Exploring Cultural Capital and Whiteness as Property in Higher Education” explored the role intersectional identities and Whiteness as property play in how higher education policies are constructed and the measures institutions can take to create inclusive, accessible policies. Her current research is focused on how curriculum affects student mattering in higher education.

Ashley serves the campus community as a member of the institution’s Assessment Steering Committee. She serves the broader community through mutual aid work conducted with the First Aid Collective Knoxville (FACK). When she is not serving others, Ashley relaxes with cross-stitch and binge-rewatching Parks & Rec for the millionth time.