Kimberly Moffitt (Ph.D. in Communication/Media Studies from Howard University) has served as Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County since August 2020. Prior to assuming this role, she was professor and director of the Language, Literacy and Culture doctoral program and affiliate professor of Africana Studies, as well as a former faculty member in the Department of American Studies. She held former appointments at Howard University and DePaul University.
With a commitment to media literacy PK-20, Dr. Moffitt is a media critic whose research focuses on mediated representations of marginalized groups as well as the politicized nature of Black hair and the body. She has published several articles and book chapters, as well as several co-edited volumes: Michelle Obama and the FLOTUS Effect: Platform, Presence, and Agency (Lexington Books, 2019), Blackberries and Redbones: Critical Articulations of Black Hair and Body Politics in Africana Communities (Hampton Press, 2010), and The 1980s: A Transitional Decade? (Lexington Books, 2011) to name a few. Her latest work explores the black body in Disney programming and the impact of colorism on Black teens. Most recently, Dr. Moffitt has been recognized for her academic contributions by Faculty Women of Color in the Academy as its Zenobia Lawrence Hikes Administrator Award and the Scholar-Activist Award by the Critical and Cultural Studies Division of the National Communication Association.
Dr. Moffitt often writes op-ed articles for the Baltimore Sun and is a frequent guest on local public radio, television, and Internet broadcasting programs. She currently serves as co-editor of a National Communication Association journal, Critical Studies in Media Communication. Locally, Dr. Moffitt also serves on the boards of the Maryland Humanities and Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance. She is a member of the public service sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the founding parent and former board member of Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys Charter School, a 4th-8th college preparatory school. Dr. Moffitt is married with two teenagers and two dogs (a Shih-tzu and a German Shepherd).