employment history 

LECTURER | Sociology & Black Studies| Birmingham City University (UK),
​ Present 
CONSULTANT | CANVAS 8 Marketing, London, UK 
Expert consultant in popular culture, beauty
2021-Present
RESEARCHER | Beatfreeks, Birmingham, UK 
The Don't Settle Project for 18-24 year olds BIPOC people
2019-2023
BOARD ADVISOR | Lived Places Publishing (USA)
-Author Identity Metadata gathering and Gen Z reading trends 
Present
MANAGING DIRECTOR |
BB NATURALS Birmingham, UK 
Black hair & skincare products retailer
​2017-present
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR | The Barber Institute, UK
2013
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER | USHMM, Washington, DC
2002-2008

articles and publications

2024: "A True Sista': Exploring Interracial Fantagonism among Black Women Fans of Scandal", Journal of Transformative Works and Cultures, no 44.

2023: Stories of Black Feminine Identity in the Making: Queering the Love in Blackness, Lived Places Publishing

2022: "Intersectional Blackness and Curatorial Poaching on Tumblr", Blackness at the Intersection: Intersectionality and the Black Diaspora, Bloomsbury Academic

2021: "Scandalous Black Feminine Gaze(s): Critically Engaged Ethnography and Intersectional Fan Praxis on Tumblr", Fan Studies Primer: Method, Research, Ethics,  University of Iowa Press 
​
2019: "Insider/Outsider: Olivia Pope and the Pursuit of 'The Erotic'", Gladiators in Suits: Race, Gender, and the Politics of Representation in Scandal , Syracuse University Press

2018: “’Be Who You Are’: Black Feminism in Volatile Realities,” The Fire Now: Anti-Racist Scholarship in Times of Explicit Racial Violence, University of Chicago Press/Zed Books.

Media appearances & contributions

papers & presentations

  • Pow, K. (2024, July), Black Women Reading and Writing Erotic Fan Fiction: Emerging Themes, presentation for Sex, Scandal and Sensation Conference, Falmouth University, UK
  • Pow, K, Parker, D., Edmonds, N (April 2024), Author Identity Metadata: Why a Small Publisher Can Address a Major Challenge at UKSG annual conference, Glasgow UK
  • Pow, K. (2022, Nov), Devolving Restitution and the UK Heritage Sector, panel chair, Birmingham Museums Trust, UK
  • Pow, K. (2022, April), Emotional Transference and Mapping the Black Body: The Scandal fandom on Tumblr, at Archives of Desire Seminar Series, Oxford University, UK [online]
  • Pow, K. (2019, August), My presence is present? Bringing my Black Queer Self into the University Classroom, presentation for the Resistance in the Master’s House panel at the Royal Geographic Society (RGS-IBG) annual conference
  • Pow, K. (2019, March) ,Black Female Fan Praxis on Tumblr, presentation for the “Decolonising Fan Studies” panel at Society of Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS), Seattle, Washington, USA
  • Pow, K., (2017, June). Intersectional Blackness and Curatorial Poaching on Tumblr. Paper presented at the Digital Blackness Conference, University of Sussex, Brighton
  • Pow, K., (2017, June). Deregulating Blackness and Radical Being-ness in the Age of Trump and Brexit. Paper presented at Critical Race and Ethnicities Network (CREN) workshop on Black Feminism, Sheffield University, Sheffield
  • Aisha, S. & Pow, K. (2017, March). Queering the Nation. Workshop facilitated, Black Feminism(s) and The Nation Conference, Birmingham City University, Birmingham
  • Pow, K. (2016, October). Personal Reflections on #Brexit and Trump’s America. Remarks given at The Meanings of Black History panel discussion, Birmingham Research Institute for Research and Culture (BRIHC), University of Birmingham, Birmingham
  • Pow, K., (2016, June). From Theory to Praxis: How is the Internet Reframing Intersectionality in 2016? Reframing Intersectionality Workshop with Kimberlé Crenshaw, Rugby
  • Pow, K., (2016, March). Embracing Blurred Lines: Reconciling the Fangirl and the Academic. Paper presented at the Social Media & Social Science Research Conference, Academy of Social Sciences, London
  • Pow, K. (2015, October). Mediating the Body of Olivia Pope: Tumblr, Mobility and Power. Paper presented at the Blackness in Britain Conference, Birmingham City University, Birmingham
  • Pow, K. (2015, May). Mediating the Body of Olivia Pope: Tumblr, Mobility and Power. Presentation given at the annual Geo Media Conference: Spaces and Mobilities in a Mediatized World, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden
  • Pow, K. (2015, February). Critical Education Praxis on Tumblr. Micro lecturer presented at the British Sociological Association (BSA)‘s regional Workshop: Decolonising the Sociological Cannon, Birmingham City University, Birmingham
  • Pow, K. (2015). Intersectional Ethnography: Tumblr and the Alternative Construction of Social Education Discourse. Presentation given at Intersectionality:  A Space for Theoretical and Practitioner Discussion, sponsored by the Race In The Americas (R.I.T.A.) group (University of Sussex), University College, London
​

Collaborations

  • Queer Youth of Colour Conference, February 2019, Birmingham City University in partnership with UNMUTED Brum & Rainbow Noir, Manchester, Co-organiser
  • Re-engaging Pan-Africanism, December 2018 Conference (Birmingham City University), planning committee member
  • Blackness in Britain, October 2015 Conference (Birmingham City University), planning committee member

Education

Doctorate of Philosophy (2021) Birmingham City University Birmingham, UK
PhD: Sociology
Supervisor: Professors K. Andrews and L. Palmer
Thesis Title: 'The woman saying this is Black like us': Black Women's Fandom & Intersectionality Discourse on Tumblr
Masters of Arts (2005)
University of Wisconsin-Madison 
​Madison, Wisconsin, USA
MA: Languages and Cultures of Asia 
Thesis Title: The Dancing Sufis of Gujarat: Religion, Identity and Performance 
Bachelor of Arts (2001)
​Vassar College  Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
BA (Hons): Anthropology