Barbara Harris Combs

Barbara Harris Combs received her Ph.D. in Sociology with a concentration in race and urban studies from Georgia State University in 2010. She also holds a Juris Doctorate degree from The Ohio State University and an MA in English from Xavier University (Ohio). She brings this interdisciplinary background to her study of society. Her research focuses on the role place (as a geographical, social/cultural, and class construct) has on modern identity formation and human relations, especially race relations. She is the author of From Selma to Montgomery: The Long March to Freedom, a book about the Selma campaign for voting rights. The book chronicles the marches, placing them in the context of the long Civil Rights Movement, and considers the legacy of the Voting Rights Act, drawing parallels with contemporary issues of enfranchisement. Her current book project, Bodies Out of Place: Theorizing Anti Blackness in U.S. Society (University of Georgia Press) will be released in fall 2022. She has published in a variety of academic journals including, Critical Sociology, Sociological Spectrum, American Behavioral Scientist, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Journal of Urban Affairs, and others.