Jill McCracken

Professor, Writing Studies

CONTACT

Office: DAV 250
Phone: 727-873-4740
Email

Curriculum Vitae

BIO

Dr. Jill McCracken is a scholar of gender and sexuality. Her research delves into how power, language, gender and sexuality are intertwined. Her academic interests include the rhetoric of marginalized communities, public policy, gender studies, reproductive technologies and civic engagement. Dr. McCracken teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in rhetoric, writing, and gender and sexuality studies.

Dr. McCracken is a Professor of English and Women’s, Gender. and Sexuality Studies at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. She is also the Founder and Project Director of Choosing Myselfa comprehensive sexual health program that places individuals’ autonomy, choice, and values at the center to advance gender equity and to decrease and prevent sexual violence and trafficking. Having worked with sex workers and victims of trafficking for twenty years, her primary areas of research focus on sex work and trafficking in the sex industry, women and incarceration, and the impact of sexuality education on marginalized communities. Drawing on ethnographic and qualitative research methods, Dr. McCracken integrates community-based, participatory research into her work.

Dr. McCracken is the author of Learning with Women in Jail: Creating Community-Based Participatory Research, which documents the research process she and her co-researchers created and conducted to better understand incarceration and recidivism. Her book Street Sex Workers’ Discourse: Realizing Material Change Through Agential Choice analyzes the representation of street-based sex work, the power of everyday language, and how it influences the real-world conditions of street-based sex workers. She has also published numerous book chapters, articles, and industry technical reports.

As a Fulbright Specialist and in collaboration with the New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective, Dr. McCracken investigated the presence of violence and trafficking in the sex industry in a country where prostitution is decriminalized. She has conducted trainings for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)-supported organizations, public defenders, human trafficking coalitions, and non-profit organizations. Her work has been recognized through many awards and honors including the International Human Trafficking & Social Justice Conference Influential Scholar Award, USF Outstanding Faculty Award, Women in Research and Philanthropy USF Faculty Research Award, and Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching and Service. 

EDUCATION

  • M.A., University of Arizona
  • Ph.D., University of Arizona