People

Jill McCracken

Dr. Jill McCracken

Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Professor of Rhetoric - USF St. Pete
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Curriculum Vitae

Biography:

Jill McCracken, Ph.D. is a Professor of English and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Dr. McCracken is also the Founder and Project Director of Choosing Myself, a 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 completed a Fulbright Specialist Project in collaboration with the New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective to investigate 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. 

Her recent publications include: 

McCracken, Jill. “Ethics as Obligation: Reconciling Diverging Research Practices with Marginalized Communities.” International Journal of Qualitative Methods. Vol 19. October 2020. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1609406920964336. 

McCracken, Jill, Ellis, Amanda, Greene, Melissa, and Trower, Charlese. “Women in Community Sharing Wisdom: Creating Art and Our Lives in Jail.” Women’s Ways of Making. Eds. Shirley Rose and Maureen Daly Goggin. Utah State University Press. 2021. 

McCracken, Jill. 2019. Learning from Women In Jail: Creating Community-Based Participatory Action Research. Springerbriefs in Anthropology and Ethics Series.  

Outlaw, Sharmus, McCracken, Jill, and Saunders, Penelope. 2016. “Resisting through Resilience: US Transgender and Sex Worker Led Community-Based Research.” Research for Sex Work 15: Resistance and Resilience. 

McCracken, Jill. 2013. Street Sex Workers’ Discourse: Realizing Material Change Through Agential Choice. Routledge Research in Gender and Society. 

McCracken, Jill. “Community Guide: The Impact of Anti-trafficking Legislation and Initiatives on Sex Workers.” Global Network of Sex Work Projects.” January 2019.   

McCracken, Jill. “Policy Brief: The Impact of Anti-trafficking Legislation and Initiatives on Sex Workers.” Global Network of Sex Work Projects.” February 2019.  

McCracken, Jill, Co-Author and Editor. SWOP Behind Bars with Bob Pelshaw. Focus on the Future: Re-Entry Journal and Workbook. April 2018. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.