Lanita Jacobs

Tenure Track Appointments

• Associate Professor – Departments of American Studies & Ethnicity (75%) and Anthropology (25%), University of Southern California, University of Southern California, 06/2000 –
• Assistant Professor – Department of Anthropology (joint affiliation with the Program in American Studies & Ethnicity), University of Southern California, 08/2000 – 05/2006
• Assistant Professor – Department of Anthropology, College of Charleston, 08/1999 – 05/2000

Research, Teaching, Practice, and Clinical Appointments

• Adjunct Professor – Department of Anthropology, College of Charleston, Spring 1999

Research Keywords

Language, Identity, and Culture; Language and Gender; Race, Performance, and Popular Culture; Race and Humor; Race, Health, and Disability; Race, Gender, and Aesthetics

Detailed Statement of Research Interests

My research to date has been shaped by a scholarly interest in language as a mediator of African American culture and identity, and ethnography as a dynamic way of seeing and being in the world. As a linguistic anthropologist, I have pursued these mutual interests by conducting multisited ethnographies of African American women’s hair care, African American children coping with Acquired or Traumatic Brain Injury (ABI/TBI), and African American standup comedy. My fieldwork across sites of hair care, hospitals, and humor has focused on the complex ways in which speakers socialize and construct identity, expertise, and other stances that are essential to their everyday lives. In each of these studies, I have employed longitudinal fieldwork and discourse analysis to examine the verbal and nonverbal “work” speakers do to negotiate how they see the world and their place in it, as well as the stakes embedded in their engagements. Findings from these respective studies have been presented in several top tier journals in Anthropology and national and international conferences.

Conference Presentations

• Decidedly Black: Plumbing the B-Sides of Marlon Riggs et al.’s (1995) Black Is … Black Ain’t. , American Anthropological Association Annual MeetingConference, Invited, San Jose, CA, Fall 2018
• Authenticating Apologies in Black Standup Comedy , American Studies Association Annual MeetingConference, Invited, Chicago, IL, Fall 2017
• It’s about to Get Real: Kevin Hart as a Modern Day Trickster (Who Apologizes with Trickster Acuity) , American Anthropological Association Annual MeetingConference, Invited, Washington, D.C., Fall 2017
• To Be Real: African American Standup Comedy, from 9/11 to Obama , 27th International Humor Conference of the International Society for Humor StudiesConference, Invited, Oakland, CA, Spring 2015
• Innocence and Intentionality in the Linguistic Marking of Race and Identity in Space and Place (Discussant) , American Anthropological Association Annual MeetingTalk/Oral Presentation, Washington, DC, Fall 2014
• To Be Real: Deciphering “Truth” and “Authenticity” in African American Standup Comedy , American Anthropological Association Annual MeetingTalk/Oral Presentation, Washington, DC, Fall 2014
• Deciphering “A” Real in African American Standup Comedy. , American Studies Association ConferenceConference, Invited, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Fall 2012
• Can You Feel Me?: Race and Empathy in Anthropological Fieldwork , American Anthropological Association ConferenceTalk/Oral Presentation, Montreal, QB Canada, Fall 2011
• Contesting Beauty , Posing Beauty in African American CultureRoundtable/Panel, African American Studies Department, Department of, Invited, USC Fisher Museum of Art, Fall 2011
• Mentoring & Research Collaboration , Ford Foundation Fellows ConferenceRoundtable/Panel, Ford Foundation, Invited, Irvine, CA, Fall 2011
• Can you feel me?: Race and Authenticity in African American Standup Comedy , International Society for Humor Studies ConferenceLecture/Seminar, Invited, Boston, MA, Spring 2011
• Negotiating Multiple Accountabilities & Positionalities in Boundary Crossing , 22nd Annual Occupational Science SymposiumTalk/Oral Presentation, Invited, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 2009-2010
• Race and Authenticity in African American Obama Humor , Cultural Studies ConferenceTalk/Oral Presentation, Invited, Berkeley, CA, 2009-2010
• Black and Brown Relations in the African American Comedic Imagination , American Studies Association Annual Meeting Talk/Oral Presentation, Philadelphia, PA, 2007-2008
• Enacting Racial and Gendered Authenticity in Black Hair Humor , 18th Annual Conference on American LiteratureTalk/Oral Presentation, Boston, MA, 2007-2008
• Gender and Authenticity in African American Hair Humor , 13the Annual Tillie K. Lubin Symposium, “I thought it was funny”: Gender, Race, HumorTalk/Oral Presentation, Women and Gender Studies, Invited, Brandeis University, 2007-2008
• Gender and Authenticity in African American Hair Humor , 13the Annual Tillie K. Lubin Symposium, “I thought it was funny”: Gender, Race, HumorTalk/Oral Presentation, Women and Gender Studies, Invited, Brandeis University, 2007-2008
• Racial Politics: Revisiting the Politics of the N-Words post-Don Imus and Michael Richards , 106th American Anthropological Association Annual MeetingTalk/Oral Presentation, Washington, D.C., 2007-2008
• Talking about (and Beyond) Hair: Negotiating Expertise and “Realness” in Black Women’s Hair Care , African American Women’s Language ConferenceTalk/Oral Presentation, Invited, The University of Texas at San Antonio, 2007-2008
• Discussant , Language, Interaction, and Social Organization (LISO) SymposiumDiscussant, Invited, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2006-2007
• Race and Representation in Hurricane Katrina Humor , American Anthropology Association 105th Annual Meeting Talk/Oral Presentation, San Jose, CA, 2006-2007
• Why we got to be refugees?: Race and Representation in Hurricane Katrina Humor , American Studies Humor Association/Mark Twain Circle of America Quadrennial ConferenceTalk/Oral Presentation, New Orleans, LA, 2006-2007
• (In Pursuit of) `Truth’ and `Authenticity’ in African American Standup Comedy , American Anthropological Association ConferenceTalk/Oral Presentation, Washington, D.C., 2005-2006
• (In Pursuit of) `Truth’ and `Authenticity’ in African American Standup Comedy , 11th Annual Conference on Language, Interaction and Social Organization (LISO) ConferencePlenary, Invited, University of Southern California, Santa Barbara, 2004-2005
• Ethnography of Performance: Methodological Insights from an African American Standup Comedy Study , 11th Annual Conference on Language, Interaction and Social Organization (LISO) ConferenceWorkshop, Invited, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2004-2005
• Becoming Cosmetologists: Language Socialization in an African American Beauty College , American Anthropological Association ConferenceTalk/Oral Presentation, Chicago, IL, 2003-2004
• Examining the Politics of Representation in Language and Gender Research , COSWL/IGALA Perception & Realization in Language and Gender Research ConferenceWorkshop, Invited, Michigan State University. East Lansing, MI, 2002-2003

Other Presentations

• Hip Hop: ‘Alright’, Civic Engagement, and Stories of Resistance, Invited Talk, Los Angeles, CA, 2016-2017
• Neoliberal Moves: Urban Transformations, Reflexivity, and “Native” Anthropologists, Invited Talk, Denver, CO, 2015-2016
• Innocence and Intentionality in the Linguistic Marking of Race and Identity in Space and Place, Invited Talk, Washington, D.C., 2014-2015
• Mentoring and Research Collaboration (as part of Academic Networking for Underrepresented Scholars/Scholars of Color Workshop), Invited Talk, Irvine, CA, 2011-2012
• Global Hunger: Charting the Shift from Humanitarian Crisis to Security Threat, Invited Talk, San Antonia, TX, 2010-2011
• Race and Comedy. Parkside Apartment Speaker Series, Select Presentation, Los Angeles, CA, 2009-2010
• Race and Comedy Forum. Cardinal Gardens Apartment Speaker Series, Select Presentation, Los Angeles, CA, 2007-2008
• Beyond the Campus Gates Speaker Series: A Conversation with African American Standup Comics, Select Presentation, Los Angeles, CA, 2007-2008
• Becoming Cosmetologists: Language Socialization in an African American Beauty College, Invited Talk, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2003-2004
• The Natives are Gazing and Talking Back: Language, Identity, and Representation among “Native” Anthropologists, Invited Talk, Washington, D.C., 2001-2002
• Epistemological Deliberations: Constructing and Contesting Knowledge in Women’s Cross-Cultural Hair Testimonies , Invited Talk, University of California, Los Angeles, 2000-2001
• Language and Identity in African American Hair Care Settings: Reflections of a Linguistic Anthropologist, Invited Talk, Santa Monica, CA, 2000-2001
• Language Socialization, Identity, and Cultural Practice: A Multi-sited Ethnography of African American Hair Care Communities , Invited Talk, Columbia, South Carolina, 1999-2000
• The Pragmatics of Prayer in Cross-Cultural Communities, Invited Talk, Seattle, WA, 1997-1998
• Discourse, Identity, and Representation, Invited Talk, Orland, FL, 1996-1997
• EnGendered Discourses of Identity and Power in Communities of Color, Invited Talk, Eugene, OR, 1996-1997
• African American Vernacular English and Language Crossing, Invited Talk, Las Vegas, NV, 1996-1997

Book

• Jacobs, L. (2022). Truth and Racial Authenticity in African American Standup Comedy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Web Address
• Jacobs-Huey, L. (2006). From the Kitchen to the Parlor: Language and Becoming in African American Women’s Hair Care. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Web Address

Book Chapters

• Jacobs, L. (2015). Jacobs, Lanita. 2015. On “Making Good” in a Study of African American Children with Acquired and Traumatic Brain Injuries. In R. Sanjek (Ed.) Mutuality: Anthropology’s Changing Terms of Engagement. pp. 249-258. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Jacobs, L. (2014). On “Making Good” in a Study of African American Children with Acquired and Traumatic Brain Injuries. Anthropology’s Changing Terms of Engagement Philadelphia, PN: University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Jacobs, L. (2012). Jacobs-Huey, Lanita. 2012a. Learning through the Breach: Language Socialization among African American Cosmetologists. In S. Delamont (Ed.) Ethnographic Methods in Education, Volume 4 (245-273). London: Sage. [Reprint].
• Jacobs-Huey, L. (2011). Into the Breach: Representing the Messy Truths of Black Women’s Hair and Language Politics (IN African American Women’s Language: Discourse, Education, and Identity). pp. 262-275. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
• Jacobs, L. (2011). Learning through the Breach: Language Socialization among African American Cosmetologists. Ethnographic Methods in Education (Vol. 4) London: Sage.
• Jacobs, L. (2011). Jacobs, Lanita. 2011b. “The Arab is the New Nigger”: African American Comics Confront the Irony and Tragedy of 9/11. In T. Gournelos and V. Greene (Eds.) A Decade of Dark Humor: How Comedy, Irony, and Satire Have Shaped Post-9/11 America (47-56). Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. [Reprint].
• Jacobs-Huey, L. (2009). Moralizing Whiteness in “Joan of Arcadia” (IN Small Screen, Big Picture: Television and Lived Religion). pp. 233-258. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press.
• Jacobs-Huey, L. (2001). Epistemological Deliberations: Constructing and Contesting Knowledge in Women’s Cross-Cultural Hair Testimonies. In EnGendering Rationalities. pp. 335-359. Albany: SUNY Press.

Book Review

• Jacobs, L. (2006). Jacobs-Huey, Lanita. 2006c. Review of John L. Jackson, Harlemworld: Doing Race and Class in Black America, John L. Jackson (University of Chicago Press, 2001). International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 30(1): 709-711.

Encyclopedia Article

• Jacobs, L. (2012). Jacobs, Lanita. 2012b. Learning through the Breach: Language Socialization. In Norbert M. Seel (Ed.) Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning (1989-1992). Boston, MA: Springer.

Journal Article

• Jacobs, L.Jacobs, Lanita. n.d.[a]*1 Revisiting “Hair”: Unversed Scenes from the Kitchen to the Parlor. Forthcoming Essay in M. Bucholtz and K. Hall (Eds.) Parsing the Body: Language and the Social Life of Embodiment.
• Jacobs, L. (2011). Jacobs, Lanita, Mary Lawlor and Cheryl Mattingly. 2011a. I/We Narratives among African American Families Raising Children with Disabilities. Culture, Medicine & Psychiatry 35(1): 3-25.
• Jacobs, L., Lawlor, M., Mattingly, C. (2010). I/We Narratives among African American Families Raising Children with Special Needs. Culture, Medicine, & Psychiatry. Vol. 35 (1), pp. 3-25.
• Jacobs-Huey, L. (2007). Learning through the Breach: Language Socialization among African American Cosmetologists. Ethnography. Vol. 8 (2), pp. 171-203.
• Jacobs-Huey, L. (2006). “The Arab is the New Nigger”: African American Comics Confront the Irony & Tragedy of 9/11. Transforming Anthropology. Vol. 14 (1), pp. 60-64.
• Jacobs-Huey, L. (2004). Remembering Crissy: enGendering Knowledge, Difference, and Power in Women’s Hair Care Narratives. Transforming Anthropology. Vol. 11 (2), pp. 30-42.
• Jacobs-Huey, L. (2003). “Ladies are Seen, Not Heard”: Language Socialization in a Southern African American Cosmetology School. Anthropology and Education Quarterly. Vol. 34 (3), pp. 277-299.
• Jacobs-Huey, L. (2002). The Natives are Gazing and Talking Back: Reviewing the Problematics of Positionality, Voice, and Accountability among “Native” Anthropologists. American Anthropologist. Vol. 104 (3), pp. 791-804.
• Mattingly, C., Lawlor, M., Lanita, J. (2002). Narrating September 11: Race, Gender, and the Play of Cultural Identities. American Anthropologist. Vol. 104 (3), pp. 743-753.

Proceedings

• Jacobs-Huey, L. (1998). We Are Just Like Doctors, We Heal Sick Hair: Cultural and Professional Discourses of Hair and Identity in a Black Hair Care Seminar. SALSA V: Proceedings of the 5th Annual Symposium about Language and Society-Austin, TLF 39. In Chalasani, Mani C., Jennifer Grocer, and Peter Haney (Ed.), pp. 213-223. Austin, TX. Texas Linguistics Forum.
• Jacobs-Huey, L. (1997). Is There An Authentic African American Speech Community: Carla Revisited. 1. pp. 331-370. Penn Working Paper Series in Linguistics.
• Jacobs-Huey, L. (1996). Negotiating Social Identity in an African American Beauty Salon. In Gender and Belief Systems: Proceedings of the Fourth Berkeley Women and Language Conference. In N. Warner et al. (Ed.), pp. 331-343. Berkeley. University of California, Berkeley Women and Language Group.
• Jacobs-Huey, L. (1996). Negotiating Price in an African American Beauty Salon. 1. pp. 45-59. Issues in Applied Linguistics.

Other

• Jacobs-Huey, L. (2003). Black/”Urban” Standup Comedy: A Performance by Brandon Bowlin. Theatre Journal 55(3): 539-541 (October).

• Inductee, USC Chapter of the Honor Society Phi Kappa Phi, 2018-2019
• Nominee, Steven B. Sample Teaching and Mentoring Award, USC, 2012-2013
• Nominee, USC Parents Association Teaching and Mentoring Award, 2012-2013
• Outstanding Professor Recognition, Induction Ceremony, The Gamma Sigma Alpha Executive Board, Fall 2012
• Nominee, USC Parents Association Teaching & Mentoring Award, Fall 2011
• Nominee, Steven B. Sample Teaching & Mentoring Award, Spring 2011
• Nominee, USC Mellon Award for Excellence in “Faculty Mentoring Undergraduates”, Spring 2010
• “Fight On” Faculty Award, African American Cultural Celebration, 2010/05/12
• NIH R01 Continuation Grant [2 RO1 HD 38878] Co-PI (with Profs. Mary Lawlor and Cheryl Mattingly) – Boundary Crossing: Resituating Cultural Competence funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2005-2009
• Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities & Social Sciences Grant, USC, 2008-2009
• USC Mellon Award for Excellence in “Faculty Mentoring Undergraduates”, 2007-2008
• USC or School/Dept Award for Teaching, The “Fight On” Faculty Award, African American Cultural Celebration Ceremony, 2008/05/15
• General Education Teaching Award, 2006-2007
• James H. Zumberge Faculty Research & Innovation Fund, 2004-2005
• Research Supplement for Underrepresented Minorities [R01 HD 38878] Research Consultant – Boundary Crossing: A Longitudinal and Ethnographic Study [Mary Lawlor and Cheryl Mattingly, Co-PIs] funded by the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and National Institutes of Health, 2000-2004
• Alpha Phi Alpha African American Women of USC Award, 2003-2004
• NICHD Minority Supplement, PI w/ Mary Lawlor, 2001-2003
• Political Violence Initiative Teaching Grant, 2002-2003
• USC Mini-Jumpstart Course Development Grant, 2002-2003
• Ford Dissertation Fellowship for Minorities, 1998-1999
• National Science Foundation Dissertation Grant, co-submitted with Marcyliena Morgan, 1998-1999
• Wenner-Gren Foundation Pre-Doctoral Grant, 1998-1999

Office Hours

T/TH : 11-12, or by appointment; best to contact via email (jacobshu@usc.edu)

Other Advisement or Time Devoted to Students

Advisor, Mellon-Mays Scholar Endiya Griffin

Co-Advisor, Mellon-Mays Scholar Emmy Esquerre

Co-Advisor, Mellon-Mays Scholar Hameedha Kahn

Advisor, SOAR Scholar Syann Cromwell

Advisor, Mellon-Mays and Anthropology Honors Scholar Moira Turner

Advisor, American Studies Honors Scholar Jessleen Dhaliwal

Advisor, McNair Scholar Bréond Durr

Advisor, Mellon Mays Scholar Rikiesha Pierce; Pierce won an
Interdisciplinary Award at the 2013 Undergraduate Symposium for Scholarly
and Creative Work

Advisor, HSBC Student Opportunities for Academic Research (SOAR)
Scholar Tandia Elijio

Advisor, SOAR Scholar Vellore Adithi; Adithi placed 1st in the Humanities
Category of the 2013 Undergraduate Symposium for Scholarly and Creative
Work

Honors Thesis Advisor for Noa Aldak (Anthropology)

Senior Thesis Advisor for Ariel Smith (American Studies & Ethnicity)

Senior Thesis Advisor for Michelle Franco (American Studies)

Advisor, SURF Scholar Patricia Gomez

Advisor, Mellon Mays Scholar Shamell Bell

Advisor, McNair Scholar Shamell Bell

Honors Thesis Advisor for Travis Silvers (American Studies & Ethnicity)

Advisor, McNair Scholar Apollo Emeka

Guest Coach, Student-Athlete Academic Services

Advisor, McNair Scholar Nathaniel Dumas

Advisor, Mellon Mays Scholar Nathaniel Dumas

Administrative Appointments

• Faculty Discussant, Thematic Options Undergraduate Research Conference, Spring 2021
• Undergraduate Director, Department of American Studies & Ethnicity, 2013-2015
• Acting Chair, Department of Anthropology, 06/01/2013-08/01/2013
• Dornsife Faculty Fellow, 08/16/2012-05/15/2013
• Dornsife Faculty Fellow, 08/16/2011-05/15/2012

Committees

• AMST Junior Faculty Mentorship Committee, 2019-2023
• Director of Graduate Studies, Department of American Studies & Ethnicity, 2011-2012
• Undergraduate Committee, Department of American Studies & Ethnicity, 2009-2012
• Awards Committee, Department of American Studies & Ethnicity, 2009-2012
• Diversity Caucus, Faculty Council, 2010-2011
• Annual Evaluation Committee, Anthropology Department, 2010-2011
• Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, Department of American Studies & Ethnicity, 2008-2011
• Arts & Humanities Initiative – “Visions & Voices”, Committee Member, 2006-2009
• Graduate Studies Committee, Department American Studies & Ethnicity, 2006-2009
• Guest Coach, University of Southern California Student Athletic Services Program,
• Executive Committee, Program in American Studies and Ethnicity, 2003-2006
• American Studies Search Committee, Program in American Studies and Ethnicity, 2001-2006
• African American Studies Search Committee, Program in American Studies and
  Ethnicity, 1999-2006
• Annual Evaluation Committee, Anthropology Department, 1999-2006
• Mentorship Committee, Anthropology Department, 2000-2001

Other Service to the University

• Faculty Moderator, Social Issues Speaker Series (featuring Alex Kotlowitz), Spring Spri
• Faculty Speaker: Race and Comedy. Parkside Apartment Speaker Series, University of
  Southern California,
• Faculty Speaker. Race and Comedy Forum. Cardinal Gardens Apartment Speaker Series,
  University of Southern California,
• Faculty Moderator, “Beyond the Campus Gates” Speaker Series: A Conversation with African
  American Standup Comics. University of Southern California,

Reviewer for Publications

• Transforming Anthropology, Review, 2020 – 2021
• New York University Press, Review, Fall 2017
• Studies in American Humor, Review, 2013 – 2017
• Language in Society, Reviewed Manuscript for Journal, Fall 2015
• International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Review, Fall 2004
• Anthropology and Education Quarterly, Review, Fall 2003
• Western Journal of Black Studies, Review, Fall 2002