Billy Hawkins
- Interim Chair and Professor
Billy Hawkins, Ph.D., is Interim Department Chair and Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. He previously served as Interim Department Chair and Associate Dean at the University of Houston, and as Professor of Kinesiology at the University of Georgia. Dr. Hawkins earned his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. His scholarship examines the intersection of race, culture, sport, and gender. It specifically focuses on how sport informs cultural ideology, and it functions as a site where race is produced, contested, and monetized in the lives of people of African descent. He brings extensive experience in faculty mentorship, curriculum leadership, and departmental administration
Education & Training
- Ph.D. The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences & M.S. The University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, Wisconsin The College of Education, Exercise Science, Health, and Recreation & B.S. Webber College
Representative Publications
Books authored:
Hawkins, B. J., Shaw, A., & Sethi, S. (Eds.) (2026). The Evolution of Collegiate Athletics: Embracing the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Era. New York: Peter Lang.
Hawkins, B. J., Joseph, J., Cooper, J. & Mack, M. (Eds.) (under contract). Research Handbook on Sport in North America. United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Lomax, M. E. & Hawkins, B. J. (Eds.) (2024). Sports and the Racial Divide: A Legacy of African American Athletic Activism. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi.
Ogunrinde, J. & Hawkins, B. J. (Eds.) (2019). An Introduction to the Sociology of Sport and Physical Activity. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.
Castenell, L., Grantham, T., & Hawkins, B. J. (Eds.) (2018). Recruiting, Retaining, and Engaging African-American Males at Select Public Research Universities: Challenges and Opportunities in Academics and Sports. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Hawkins, B. J., Carter-Francique, A. R. & Cooper, J. N. (Eds.) (2017). Critical Race Theory and American Sport. New York: Palgrave Macmillan Press.
Hawkins, B. J., Cooper, J. N., Carter-Francique, A. R., & Cavil, J. K. (Eds.) (2015). The Athletic Experience at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Past, Present, and Persistence. Lanham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield.
Polite, F. G. & Hawkins, B. J. (Eds.) (2011). Sport, Race, Activism, and Social Change: The Impact of Dr. Harry Edwards’ Scholarship and Service. San Diego, CA: Cognella Academic Publishers.
Hawkins, B. J. (2010). The New Plantation: Black Athletes, College Sports, and Predominantly White NCAA Institutions. New York: Palgrave Macmillan Press.
Hawkins, B. J. (2001). The New Plantation: The Internal Colonization of Black Student Athletes on Predominantly White NCAA Institutions. Winterville, GA: Sadiki Press.
Research Interests
Professor Hawkins research is organized around four interconnected pillars: the political economy of Black athletic labor through an internal colonial model; critical race theory as a lens to examine Black athletic capital and Black athlete activism; the institutional geography of Black educational access through HBCUs; and the globalization and commercialization of the Black sporting experiences. His body of work comprises ten authored and edited books—including The New Plantation and an edited volume with Michael Lomax, Sports and the Racial Divide—more than thirty-five peer-reviewed articles, over thirty-five invited chapters and encyclopedia entries, and over $570,000 in funded research. Since 2018, he has served as founding Book Series Editor of Global Intersectionality of Education, Sports, Race, and Gender at Peter Lang, placing eight volumes largely by early-career scholars of color. His forward agenda centers on situating the Black sporting experience in the global context.
Research Grants
Hawkins, B. J. & Pearson, D. (2017). An examination of program content of academic support services departments for college athletes at American Athletic Conference Institutions: How are they meeting the academic, mental health, and sociocultural needs of college athletes? Funded by the American Athletic Conference, Providence, RI ($4000). Co-Principal Investigator.
Zhang, J., Hawkins, B. J., & Lee, E. (2014-2015). Impact of leadership roles, functions, and activities on the golf industry’s growth and achievement in Korea: The case of Korean women golfers. Funded by Olympic Coliseum, Inc. Seoul, Korea ($37,692). Co-Principal Investigator.
Hawkins, B. J., Zhang, J., & Lee, E. (2013-2014). Dimensions of leadership functions critical to the advancement and accomplishment of LPGA in Korea: A Qualitative Analysis. Funded by Olympic Coliseum, Inc. Seoul, Korea ($36,183). Principal Investigator.
Hawkins, B. J., Zhang, J., & Lee, E. (2012-2013). Tracing leadership functions critical to the advancement and accomplishment of LPGA in Korea: A Follow-up Study. Funded by Olympic Coliseum, Inc. Seoul, Korea ($35,877.24). Principal Investigator.
Hawkins, B. J. (2012). Global athletic migration: How sport migration is flattening the world. University of Georgia Provost Office Research Support ($5000). Principal Investigator.
Zhang, J., Lee, E., Hawkins, B. J., Baker, T., & Byon, K. (2011-2012). Tracing leadership functions critical to the advancement and accomplishment of LPGA in Korea: A qualitative inquiry. Funded by Olympic Coliseum, Inc. Seoul, Korea ($32,000). Co-Principal Investigator.
Hawkins, B. J. (2007). Ministering to the whole person: Examining physical activity and health programs of rural Black churches in Clarke County and surrounding area. Funded by College of Education Summer Research Grant ($5000). Principal Investigator.
Hawkins, B. J. (2004-2006). Examining the feasibility of professional women’s baseball in the Southeast. Funded by private donor ($10,000). Principal Investigator.
Hawkins, B. J. & Dudley, G. (2001-2005). Long-term minority investigator research supplement grant: Examining the bio-cultural effects of diabetes in African American women ($298,543). The title of the parent grant is skeletal muscle plasticity, fitness, and health after SCI ($1.2 million). Both funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH). Co-Principal Investigator.
Hawkins, B. J. (2000). Sport magazine advertisements’ portrayal of Black male athletes: The menace to society. Funded by College of Education Summer Research Grant ($4,906). Principal Investigator.
Hawkins, B. J. & Lomax, M. (1997). Goal line stand: The impact of both expansion and the Civil Rights Movement on professional football's race relations, 1957-1965. Funded by College of Education Collaborative Grant ($2,000). Co-Principal Investigator.
