Jolie A. Sheffer

I earned my BA in English from Northwestern University and my MA and PhD from the University of Virginia. I am the author of two books and numerous articles, book chapters, and works of public scholarship. I am currently writing a book on the legacy of Japanese American incarceration and co-writing a book on higher education leadership. I have also co-written a series of articles on shared governance and higher education leadership.

I have a passion for collaboration and experiential learning. From 2020 to 2025, I chaired the American Studies Association-Japanese Association of American Studies Project Advisory Committee, which fosters international scholarly collaboration through grants, annual conference programming in the US and Japan, graduate proseminars, and other activities. In Summer 2017, I participated in an NEH-funded institute on “Understanding Im/Migration: Local and Global Perspectives,” with the aim of rethinking undergraduate curricula at BGSU. In Summer 2014, I participated in an NEH Summer Institute for researchers on “Finding Mississippi in the National Civil Rights Narrative: Struggle, Institution Building, and Power at the Local Level” at Jackson State University.

I have also partnered with K-12 school districts, public libraries, nonprofits, and community organizations to develop workshops, training programs, and policies that create cultures of opportunity, access, and learning across the lifespan. [See the page on Consulting, Coaching, and Public Speaking for more information.]