MCLA Professor to Launch New Book “Deflective Whiteness: Co-opting Black and Latinx Identity Politics” at Gallery 51

November 18, 2022

A book launch will be held on Dec. 1 for Dr. Hannah Noel Haynes, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at MCLA, at Gallery 51.  

The book titled, “Deflective Whiteness: Co-opting Black and Latinx Identity Politics,” from Ohio State University Press is Dr. Haynes's first book publication after writing a series of chapters and articles on similar topics.  

The book launch starts at 4 p.m. on Dec. 1 where Dr. Haynes will talk about her work in conversation alongside her former undergrad advisor Maria Elena Cepeda, Williams College professor of Latina/o studies.  

Dr. Haynes studies “the intersection and rhetoric and sociology through unconscious and conscious ways and all forms of discourse how we communicate meanings around race and whiteness and how we police it.” She looks at a variety of forms of media and the ways patterns permeate all forms of discourse. 

“The book really got me interested in the discourse of white women within white supremacy so I’m starting to research alt-right movements and I’ll have a book chapter coming out about that topic,” she said.  

Haynes received her bachelor’s degree from Williams College in 2008 and went on to pursue her master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Michigan. She is trained in American Cultural Studies with a focus on critical race theory, U.S. immigration history, and Latinx studies. She is a founding director of the Critical Ethnic Studies Minor at MCLA and a member of the American Studies Association and the Latinx Studies Association. 

Dr. Haynes is also the co-director of the MCLA Honors Program and President of the MCLA Faculty Association.  

Last November Dr. Haynes wrote a chapter for the book “White Supremacy and the American Media” which was published by Routledge and made possible by the MCLA Faculty Incentive Award.  

The book launch event coincides with Gallery 51’s current exhibition by Nathaniel Donnett – “To Know a Veil.” The event is free and open to the public. Gallery 51 is located at 49 Main Street in North Adams, Mass. 

About MCLA  
At MCLA, we’re here for all — and focused on each — of our students. Classes are taught by educators who care deeply about teaching, and about seeing their students thrive on every level of their lives. In nearly every way possible, the experience at MCLA is designed to elevate our students as individuals, leaders, and communicators, fully empowered to make their impressions on the world. In addition to our 128-year commitment to public education, we have fortified our commitment to equitable academic excellence. For 10 of the last 12 years, MCLA has been named a Top Ten College by U.S. News and World Report. MCLA also appears on the organization’s list of top National Public Liberal Arts Colleges. Since the list was created, MCLA has risen to #33 as a Top Performer on Social Mobility and ranks first among all Massachusetts liberal arts schools, which measures how well schools graduate students who receive Federal Pell Grants. Learn more at www.mcla.edu.