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Ralina Joseph (born October 27, 1974) is an American academic. She is a professor in the Department of Communication at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
, examining representations of race, gender, and sexuality in popular media.


Education

Professor Joseph earned her B.A. in American Civilization from
Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies from the
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...
.


Career

Joseph is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, as well as the Department of American Ethnic Studies. In Fall 2020, she was named the Associate Dean for Diversity and Student Affairs with the Graduate School at UW. Additionally, she is the director and co-founder of the Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity (CCDE). For the 2019-2020 academic year, Joseph was a Mellon/ ACLS Scholars & Society fellow at the
Northwest African American Museum The Northwest African American Museum (NAAM) serves to present and preserve the connections between the Pacific Northwest and people of African descent and investigate and celebrate Black experiences in America through exhibitions, programs and ev ...
.


Research

Joseph's research looks at communication and difference in representations of race, gender, and sexuality in popular media. With a focus on Black women celebrities such as
Jennifer Beals Jennifer Beals (born December 19, 1963) is an American actress and former teen model. She made her film debut in ''My Bodyguard'' (1980), before receiving critical acclaim for her role in ''Flashdance'' (1983), for which she won NAACP Image Awa ...
,
Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...
,
Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...
,
Shonda Rhimes Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television screenwriter, producer, and author. She is best known as the showrunner—creator, head writer, and executive producer—of the television medical drama '' Grey's Anatomy'', ...
,
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...
, and
Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...
, Joseph's work is at the crossroads of communication, cultural studies, cinema and media studies, Black feminism, and American ethnic studies. Dr. Joseph's first book, '' Transcending Blackness: From the New Millennium Mulatta to the Exceptional Multiracial'' (2012), was published by Duke University Press. In this book she investigates representations of Black multiracials in the media in the decade that preceded the election of President Barack Obama in 2008. Her 2018 book, '' Postracial Resistance: Black Women, Media, and the Uses of Strategic Ambiguity'', unearths and contemplates the ways that Black women navigate racism and sexism in an ostensibly
post-racial Post-racial United States is a theoretical environment in which the United States is free from racial preference, discrimination, and prejudice. Origins of the term One of the earliest uses of the term "post-racial" to describe the United Stat ...
, post-gender moment. Dr. Joseph teaches undergraduate and graduate courses including ''Communication Power and Difference'' and ''Black Cultural Studies,'' citing scholars such as Stuart Hall, Valerie Smith, Catherine Squires, and Jane Rhodes''.'' She is the creator of Interrupting Privilege, a program that works with the local intergenerational community to talk about difference and learn how to interrupt microaggressions. In 2017, Interrupting Privilege received the CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) Silver Award For Diversity Programs.


Ideas


New Millennium Mulatta and Exceptional Multiracial

In ''Transcending Blackness: From the New Millennium Mulatta to the Exceptional Multiracial'' (2014), Joseph looks at disdain and apprehension in the nation, as well as positive affects and possibilities, of racial representation. Looking at representations of
mixed race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...
women, she creates the typology "new millennium
mulatta (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese i ...
" and "exceptional multiracial" to describe modern day stereotypical appearances of multiracials. She traces the tragic mulatto stereotype to its 21st-century iteration as both the New Millennium Mulatta and the Exceptional Multiracial. The stereotypes strip representations of Black-White mixed women from performing hybridity, or what Joseph calls multiracial Blackness. According to Joseph, the New Millennium Mulatta is full of anger and punished when she speaks of race or when she chooses not to; the Exceptional Multiracial has supposedly transcended race.


Strategic Ambiguity

In ''Postracial Resistance: Black Women, The Media, and the Uses of Strategic Ambiguity'' (2018), Joseph writes about the ''"''linguistic acrobatic act" that some Black women, like
Kerry Washington Kerry Marisa Washington (born January 31, 1977) SidebarCertificate of Live Birth: Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha(County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health). Gives Kerry Washington birth dateArchivedfrom the original on May 2, 2016.Note: Fi ...
, practice to negotiate their seemingly post-racial society. Strategic Ambiguity can be used as an offensive or defensive tactic but is not always the safe choice. Born out of Black
respectability politics Respectability politics or the politics of respectability is a form of moralistic discourse used by some prominent figures, leaders or academics who are members of various marginalized groups to consciously set aside and undermine cultural and mor ...
, strategic ambiguity is not about explicitly recognizing racism and sexism but instead, only speaking back to systems of power in coded ways. As a postracial performance, strategic ambiguity is a method of survival.


Racialized difference

Expanding on the work of communication and cultural studies scholar Stuart Hall, Joseph introduces the notion of "equity" as inseparable from "difference". She understands these concepts through publicly engaged praxis, where theory and public engagement exist in a dialectical relationship. This praxis is mirrored by her inception and direction of the (CCDE), which was launched in 2015. The research center has two main tenets of its scholarship: 1. humans negotiate difference through communication, 2. empowered systems, like the university, have a responsibility to wield the power it holds by advocating for equity. In her recent article, ''What's the Difference With 'Difference'? Equity, Communication, and the Politics of Difference'', Joseph places emphasis on the centrality of communication. Difference is an umbrella term used to indicate identity vectors such as race, gender, class, sexuality, and disability. She writes that we do not focus enough on the role that language plays in our racialized reality. In her words, we do not talk enough about language and inequality. Her leadership and involvement with the CCDE exhibits this commitment to theorizing communication and difference through the close study of language and terms. And also by the mobilization of over 50 affiliated faculty from different departments including "Education, History, American Ethnic Studies, English, Sociology, Social Work, and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, and the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Bothell" as well as university and community resources. She has created a physical space meant to support those who face inequity in the institution. The theory of difference that Dr. Joseph expands upon can be traced back to
Ferdinand de Saussure Ferdinand de Saussure (; ; 26 November 1857 – 22 February 1913) was a Swiss linguist, semiotician and philosopher. His ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments in both linguistics and semiotics in the 20th century. He is widel ...
who wrote that meaning comes from comparison and not inherent denotation of a named object. According to Joseph's interpretation, meaning can only be obtained or signified by comparing one thing to the other, and because we understand things as being the signifier of what they are not, then this relation can be understood in a term of endless distinction, or difference.
Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida (; ; born Jackie Élie Derrida; See also . 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was an Algerian-born French philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in numerous texts, and which was developed t ...
extended this notion of difference by defining it as "oppositional." Joseph then explains how Derrida saw this opposition as relational and about power. Derrida's read of oppositional differences can be understood by evoking the mathematical term of difference or subtraction, as equating to less than. Derrida's ''différance'' is unlike Saussure's in that it has two meanings, that of "differ and to defer." The first is a term of distinction, the second is a term of delay. As Joseph explains, the first meaning is about the "process of relational change" that is constantly updated. The second meaning is about temporality, "postponed for some later, never to be determined moment." Ralina Joseph uses this paradigm of the term to reflect on other terms of racialized difference including "
post-racial Post-racial United States is a theoretical environment in which the United States is free from racial preference, discrimination, and prejudice. Origins of the term One of the earliest uses of the term "post-racial" to describe the United Stat ...
" and "
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
". She links the theory of difference with the practice of equity in declaring, "d''ifference"'' as a word that reflects relations''.'' Pairing difference and equity opens up opportunities for eradicating inequity and disproportionality. Joseph believes that change in the world begins with change in classrooms, scholarship, and educational institutions.


Select works


Journal articles

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Books

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Awards and honors

*The GO-MAP Faculty Leadership Award from the University of Washington (2013) *Undergraduate Research Mentor Award from the University of Washington (2017) *The Sapphire Distinguished Faculty Award from the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center (2017) *The Woman of Courage Award from the University of Washington Women's Center (2017) *Presidential Term Professorship (Endowed Professorship) (2018) *University of Washington Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award (2018)


See also

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List of University of Washington People This page lists notable students, alumni and faculty members of the University of Washington. Notable alumni Nobel laureates Academic administration and teaching Aeronautics and astronautics Art and architecture Business and law L ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Ralina 1974 births Living people University of Washington faculty African-American academics African-American women academics American women academics Black studies scholars Brown University alumni University of California, San Diego alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American women