Andrea Boyles

Andrea Boyles is the Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity and Belonging, in addition to her faculty position as Associate Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies in the School of Liberal Arts. In this role, Dr. Boyles is charged with overseeing all aspects relating to equity, diversity and inclusion. This includes leading our efforts in developing and implementing our Strategy for Tomorrow (S4T) plan that guides our EDI and anti-racism initiatives and tracks our progress over the next five years, and expanding in meaningful ways our commitment to equity, diversity, belonging, and social and cultural responsibility to our community, students, alumni/ae, and the city.

Dr. Boyles joined the School of Liberal Arts faculty in 2020 and since arriving at Tulane, has been awarded the 2020 “Media for Just Society Award” from Evident Change for her Ferguson Uprising ethnography. Prior to joining Tulane, she served as Division Chair and Division Director of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Lindenwood University, where she provided academic oversight for both full- and part-time faculty, staff, and students across social science disciplines. Her first job after completing her undergraduate degree was as a Legislative Assistant, where she managed the Capitol Office for District 61 (City of St. Louis) in the Missouri House of Representatives. Since then, she has worked in higher education, in roles spanning areas from public relations and post-secondary prison education to academia for over 20 years.

Dr. Boyles is cited in national print media such as the Washington Post, Newsweek, and The Atlantic, and routinely appears on nationally syndicated TV, radio and podcasts. She is currently serving as a Sociologists for Women in Society NGO delegate to the United Nations Economic and Social Council on the Commission of the Status of Women. She has worked collaboratively with corporations and organizations including American Airlines, Amnesty International, and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement (NOBLE) on matters pertaining to race and discrimination. Her scholarship ranges across numerous areas, including neighborhood disadvantage and interactions; Black citizen-police conflict; crime and disorder; Black feminism and intersectionality; racial-spatial politics; Black social ties, collective action, and more. She is the award-winning author of two books: You Can’t Stop the Revolution: Community Disorder and Social Ties in Post-Ferguson America (Univ of California Press, 2019) and Race, Place, and Suburban Policing: Too Close for Comfort (Univ of California, 2015). She recently signed a contract for her third scholarly monograph, which is dedicated to matters pertaining to social justice.

Andrea is a native of St. Louis, MO, and holds a B.A. in English and M.A. in Sociology from Lincoln University of Missouri. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology, with concentrations in criminology and gender, from Kansas State University.