Zachary Johnson

Zac Johnson is a doctoral student in the American Studies department at the University of Maryland. He holds an MA in Women’s and Gender Studies and a BA in Political Science, both from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Zac’s current research centers on how figures of the intellectual in various guises (such as the “public intellectual” or “activist intellectual”) and narrative tropes associated with the intellectual (the “ivory tower,” the “inaccessible” theoretician, the “selfish” or “careerist” academic) are used in contemporary scholarship and political narratives to index certain political anxieties and fantasies that arise from the class divisions implicit in the capitalist organization of the university and the professoriate. Zac’s other research interests include critical university studies, visual cultural studies, and contemporary critical theories. Zac’s intellectual work has been recognized with several honors and accolades including an award for outstanding work in Women’s and Gender Studies for a chapter of his master’s thesis, an exceptional paper award for a conference presentation at the Southeastern Women’s Studies Association, and the Greensboro Graduate Scholar fellowship for outstanding academic achievement. Zac is also the current graduate student representative to the American Studies department and is a member of the critical university studies working group.