Dr. Autumn Asher BlackDeer is a queer anti-colonial scholar-activist from the Southern Cheyenne Nation and serves as an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver.
Her scholarship illuminates the impact of structural violence on American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
Dr. BlackDeer centers Indigenous voices throughout her research by using quantitative approaches and big data as tools for responsible storytelling.
Dr. BlackDeer is a racial equity scholar with an emphasis on Indigenous tribal sovereignty and is deeply committed to furthering anti-colonial abolitionist work.
Education
2022 — PhD
Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work
Washington University in St. Louis, Brown School of Social Work
2017 — MSW
Master of Social Work
University of Oklahoma - Tulsa, Zarrow School of Social Work
2015 — BA Psychology
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Minor in Spanish
Arkansas Tech University, College of Arts and Humanities
Academic and Professional Appointments
Assistant Professor
2022 — Present
University of Denver, Graduate School of Social Work
Faculty Associate
2021 — Present
WUSTL, Buder Center for American Indian Studies
Adjunct Assistant Professor
2020 — 2022
Smith College, School for Social Work