Jyleesa Hampton

Jyleesa Hampton is a Ph.D. student​. Before entering the doctoral program, she completed her Master of Communication, specializing in rhetoric and race and a Bachelors of Arts in political science, African American studies, and women, gender and sexuality studies. During that time, Jyleesa was in the McNair Scholars Program and worked as an undergraduate research assistant for the Anti Slavery Human Trafficking Initiative (ASHTI). Her commitment to rigorous scholarly inquiry, cultivating research and critical thinking skills amongst undergraduate students and public deliberation has undergirded Jyleesa’s longtime support of KU Debate as an alumna and coach.  

Jyleesa's research interests center around the intersections of Blackness and the American carceral state. Examining police violence and its primary targets, black men, women and children, her research makes three primary aims: apply theories of anti-blackness to public administration to better understand contemporary policing, explore the breadth of black legal consciousness and streetwisdom and critically analyze varied police reforms and initiatives.