- Chair and Professor of Sociology
- Program Director of African American Studies
- Program Director of Ethnic and Cultural Studies
Credentials:
Ph.D., Northwestern University, 2009
M.A., Northwestern University, 2001
Expertise:
Urban and Community Sociology, Urban Poverty, Identity, Placemaking, African American Cultural Studies, Sociology of Black Women and Girls, Race, Class, and Gender Studies, Qualitative Methodology, Intersectionality Theory, Black Feminist Theory, and Community-Based Participatory Research
Associations:
American Sociological Association
Midwest Sociological Society
Association of Black Sociologists
Scholarly Publications:
Hill,V.& Allen, T.N. (2017) Hanging Out: The Psychology of Socializing. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, LLC.
Publications:
Allen, Tennille Nicole. (Expected publication 2023) “Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life” in The Harlem Renaissance: An Encyclopedia of Arts, Culture, and History, V. K. Patton and K. L. Dreher (eds). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
______. 2021. Food Inequalities. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Press.
Mendenhall, Ruby and Tennille N. Allen. 2021. “Regional Spotlight on Visualizing Black Chicago Lived Experiences: Du Boisian Methods, Challenges, and Soulfulness.” Footnotes: A Magazine of the American Sociological Association 49.
_______. 2020. “Book Review: Blowin’ Up: Rap Dreams in South Central.” Teaching Sociology 48: 353-355.
_______. 2020. “Blaxploitation Films” in African American Culture: An Encyclopedia of People, Traditions, and Customs, O. Dyson, J.L. Jeffries, and K. L. Brooks (eds). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
_______ and Antonia Randolph. 2020. “Listening for the Interior in Hip-Hop and R&B Music.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 6:46-60.
______. 2018. “Poking and Prying With a Purpose: Zora Neale Hurston and Black Feminist Sociology” in The New Black Sociologists: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, M.A. Hunter (ed). New York: Routledge.
Allen, Tennille Nicole and Anton Lewis. 2016. “Looking Through a Glass Darkly: Reflections on Power, Leadership and the Black Female Professional,” The Journal of Values-Based Leadership 9(2).
Allen, Tennille et al. 2015. “I Can’t Breathe.” Transition at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University 117: 1–15.
Allen, Tennille and Katherine Helm. 2013. “Threats to Intimacy for Black Couples” in Love, Intimacy, Sex and the Black Couple, K. Helm and J. Carlson (eds). New York: Routledge.
Bethea, Sharon and Tennille Allen. 2013. “Past and Present Societal Influences on African American Couples that Impact Love and Intimacy” in Love, Intimacy, Sex and the Black Couple, K. Helm and J. Carlson (eds). New York: Routledge.
Allen, Tennille. 2013. “Visualizing Gender: Exploring the Social Construction of Femininity and Masculinity through Advertisements.” TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology.
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______. “The Clothesline Project: Unpacking Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence through Sociology of Gender course readings.” TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology.
______. 2012. “Literary Intersections: Using Junot Diaz’ The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao to Teach the Sociology of Gender.” TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology.
_____. 2009. “Book Review: Barrio Professors: Tales of Naturalistic Research” Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews 38: 579-580.
“I didn’t let everybody come in my house: Exploring Bell Hooks’ Notion of the Homeplace.” The CLR James Journal, 17. (2011)
Selected Conference Presentations
Discussant for invited session, “Resilience During Multiple Epidemics: Centering Black Women and Girls’ Experiences and Responses to Covid-19, Gun Violence, and Police Violence in Chicago.”, American Sociological Association, Chicago, IL (Virtual), August 2021.
With Katherine M. Helm and Kristi Kelly. “The Psychological Trauma of Black Students and Black Professionals on Campus After the Murder of George Floyd.” Eastern Illinois University Together We RISE: Reaching Inclusivity for Student Excellence, Charleston, IL (Virtual), October 2020.
With Ruby Mendenhall, Lisa Covington, and Lisa Butler, “The Souls of Black Women: Quiet as a Form of Resistance, Resiliency, and Self-Care.” American Sociological Association, New York, NY, August 2019.
Allen, Tennille Nicole, “Follow the Leader: Building your Audience and Making an Impact with Twitter.” American Sociological Association, Philadelphia, PA, August 2018.
With Antonia M. Randolph, “Listening for the Interior in Hip-hop and R&B Music.” American Sociological Association, Philadelphia, PA, August 2018.
Allen, Tennille Nicole, ““And Even the Quiet Dark””: Towards a Theory of The Souls of Black Women Folk.” National Women’s Studies Association, Montréal, Québec, Canada, November 2016.
With Kay Bolden, Kathy Pecora, and Laura Wilmarth Tyna, “Growing Community: Building University and Community Connectedness” Growing Power’s National International Urban and Small Farms Conference, Milwaukee, WI, November 2016.
With Ruby Mendenhall, Lisa Covington, and Lisa Butler, “The Souls of Black Women Folk: Quiet as a Form of Resistance”, Association of Black Sociologists, Memphis, TN, October 2016.
With Lisa Covington, “Souls of Black Women: Quiet as a Form of Resistance.” National Women’s Studies Association, Milwaukee, WI, November 2015.
With Katherine Helm, “Microaggressions in the Classroom: Narratives of Two African American Professors.” Association of Black Women in Higher Education, Chicago, IL, October 2015.
Discussant, “Housing Choice, Neighborhood Quality and Doubling Up”, American Sociological Association, Chicago, IL, August 2015.
With Silvia Dominguez, “Exploring the Network Heterogeneity of Low-Income African- and Latin-American Women,” Sunbelt XXXIV International Sunbelt Social Network Conference, February 2014.
Organizer and Presider, “On the Outside Looking In: Networking for Academics and Professionals.” Midwest Sociological Society, Chicago, IL, March 2013.
Discussant and Organizer, ““Experiencing “Chilly Climates”: Working Within and Against Discrimination and Inequality Within Academia and Beyond.” Midwest Sociological Society, Chicago, IL, March 2013.
“Sites of Surveillance, Sites of Distrust: The Use of the Homeplace in Mixed-income Public Housing”, American Sociological Association, Denver, CO, August 2012.
With Silvia Dominguez, “Helping Up, Helping Out”, American Sociological Association, Las Vegas, NV, August 2011.
With Silvia Dominguez, “Is There Heterogeneity in the Networks of Women Living in Areas of Poverty?”, American Sociological Association, Atlanta, GA, August 2010.
With Silvia Dominguez, “Heterogeneity in the Social Networks of Low-Income African and Latin-American Women,” International Social Network Analysis Conference Riva Del Garda, Italy, 2010.
“It Works, If You Let It: Interactions in a Mixed-Income Public Housing Development”, Association of Black Sociologists, Atlanta, GA, August 2010.
“Mixing it Up: Social Networks and Interactions in a Mixed-Income Community” Midwest Sociological Society, Chicago, March 2010.
With Silvia Dominguez “Do Mixed Income Developments Increase the Heterogeneity in Networks of Low-Income Women?” Harvard University Immigration Workshop, Cambridge, MA, May 2009.
Selected Workshops and Other Presentations
Keynote Speaker, West Suburban Colleges and Universities Diversity and Inclusion Professionals Annual Symposium, March 2018
Featured Speaker, ENGAGE!: An Event to Foster Community Connections, Lewis University, September 2017
Becoming a VET Ally: Enhancing the Awareness, Services, and Faculty Pedagogy for Our Growing Student Veteran Population, Lewis University, May Institute (2014)
Selected Exceptional Service
American Sociological Association (ASA) Committee on the Status of Women Member (2021-present)
Editorial Board Member, Teaching Sociology (2021-present)
ASA Community and Urban Sociology Section’s Excellence in Teaching in Community and Urban Sociology Committee Member (2021-present)
ASA Race, Class, and Gender Distinguished Article Award Committee Member (2019)
Association of Black Sociologists (ABS) Nominations Committee Chair (2017-2018)
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- Nominations Committee Member (2013-2018)
Midwest Sociological Society (MSS) Status of Women in the Profession Committee Member (2011-2014)
MSS Jane Addams Award Committee Member (2012-2014)
Selected Awards, Fellowships, and Grants
PI, Council of Independent Colleges Legacies of American Slavery Regional Collaboration Partnership for the study of Race, Place, and Migration and Mass Incarceration, 2021 ($215,000)
Co-PI, Chicago Community Trust Healing Illinois, 2021 ($38,000)
Lewis University Faculty Scholar Award, 2019
Lewis University Lasallian Research Grant, 2018
American Sociological Association Wikipedia Fellow, 2018
Nominated for Lewis University De La Salle Medallion for Excellence in Community Engaged Learning, 2018
Lewis University, De La Salle Medallion for Exemplary Volunteer Service recipient, 2017