Joanna Brooks

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American author and professor

title: "Joanna Brooks" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1971-births", "american-latter-day-saint-writers", "brigham-young-university-alumni", "living-people", "mormon-feminists", "mormon-memoirists", "memoirists", "san-diego-state-university-faculty", "latter-day-saints-from-california", "american-women-non-fiction-writers", "american-academics-of-english-literature", "21st-century-american-women-academics", "21st-century-american-academics", "academics-from-los-angeles"] description: "American author and professor" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanna_Brooks" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American author and professor ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox writer "]

FieldValue
nameJoanna Brooks
birth_date
birth_placeLos Angeles, California
occupationAuthor, professor, scholar
nationalityAmerican
alma_materBrigham Young University (BA)
University of California, Los Angeles (PhD)
subjectReligious studies
Transatlantic literature
African American literature
website
::

| name = Joanna Brooks | image = | imagesize = | alt = | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Los Angeles, California | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Author, professor, scholar | nationality = American | alma_mater = Brigham Young University (BA) University of California, Los Angeles (PhD) | period = | genre = | subject = Religious studies Transatlantic literature African American literature | movement = | notable works = | spouse = | website =

Joanna Brooks (born September 29, 1971) is an American author and scholar of American literature. Brooks is currently the Associate Vice President of Faculty Advancement and Student Success at San Diego State University (SDSU). Before working in academic administration at SDSU, she was a professor of English and Comparative Literature. She is a frequent media commentator on faith in American life, particularly in relation to her own Mormonism. Politico named her one of 2011's "50 politicos to watch" for her Twitter feed, @askmormongirl.

Mormonism

Brooks writes extensively about Mormonism and Mormon feminism and is often quoted in the media related to issues regarding the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Huffington Post writes, "Brooks specializes in explaining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to non-Mormons, and in presenting a different way to be Mormon to those steeped in its orthodoxy." She wrote a question-and-answer blog from 2010 to 2014 called "Ask Mormon Girl" with the tagline "unorthodox answers from an imperfect source". She also wrote as a senior correspondent for Religion Dispatches from 2011 to 2014, frequently addressing Mormon issues. In early 2012, she self-published a memoir called The Book of Mormon Girl: Stories from an American Faith, which was later picked up by Simon & Schuster and published by them in August 2012.{{cite book |url = http://books.simonandschuster.com/Book-of-Mormon-Girl/Joanna-Brooks/9781451699685/ |title = The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an American Faith |date = August 7, 2012 |access-date = August 18, 2012 |publisher = Simon & Schuster |isbn = 9781451699685

Brooks sits on the board of directors for Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. Brooks is described as a feminist and liberal Mormon, in contrast to the predominantly conservative culture of Mormonism. In 2017 Brooks was among and ten co-authors publishing "Shoulder to the Wheel: Resources to Help Latter-day Saints Face Racism"

Personal life

Brooks is married to David Kamper and has two daughters. She holds a bacherlor's degree from Brigham Young University and a PhD from UCLA. She is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Works

  • "Face Zion Forward": First Writers of the Black Atlantic, 1785–1798 (Editor, with John Saillant). Northeastern, 2002.
  • American Lazarus: Religion and the Rise of African-American and Native American Literatures (Author). Oxford, 2003. . Winner of the Modern Language Association William Sanders Scarborough Award.
  • The Collected Writings of Samson Occom, Mohegan: Literature and Leadership in Eighteenth-Century America (Editor). Oxford, 2006.
  • Transatlantic Feminisms in the Age of Revolutions (Editor, with Lisa L. Moore and Caroline Wigginton). Oxford, 2012.
  • The Book of Mormon Girl: Stories from an American Faith (Author). Free Press, 2012. . Winner of the Association for Mormon Letters memoir award.
  • Why We Left: Untold Stories and Songs of America's First Immigrants (Author). Minnesota, 2013.
  • Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings (Co-Editor). Oxford, 2015.
  • Saving Alex: When I Was Fifteen I Told My Mormon Parents I Was Gay, and That's When My Nightmare Began. (By Alex Cooper, with Brooks). HarperOne, 2016.
  • Decolonizing Mormonism: Approaching a Postcolonial Zion (Editor, with Gina Colvin). University of Utah Press, 2018.
  • Mormonism and white supremacy: American religion and the problem of racial innocence. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. .

References

References

  1. (2016). "Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings". [[Oxford University Press]].
  2. Ravitz, Jessica. (February 5, 2012). "Crossing the plains and kicking up dirt, a new Mormon pioneer". CNN.
  3. Lauren Markoe. (July 18, 2018). "Joanna Brooks returns to previous position following unexpected removal last year". [[Daily Aztec]].
  4. "Joanna Brooks, Associate Vice President {{!}} Provost {{!}} SDSU".
  5. "Joanna Brooks".
  6. Lauren Markoe. (February 1, 2012). "10 minutes with ... Joanna Brooks". [[Washington Post]].
  7. Susan Leem. (October 25, 2012). "Joanna Brooks on the Need for Politicians to Find Their Moral Bearings". [[On Being]].
  8. Guy Raz. (December 2, 2011). "'Ask Mormon Girl' Discusses Mitt Romney's Candidacy". [[National Public Radio]].
  9. (July 28, 2011). "50 politicos to watch: Top tweeters". Politico.com.
  10. Markoe, Lauren. (February 1, 2012). "Joanna Brooks Discusses Mormonism, American Politics". Huffington Post.
  11. Joanna Brooks. (April 21, 2015). "Welcome to the world of Ask Mormon Girl". Ask Mormon Girl.
  12. Daniel Burke. (July 13, 2012). "Mormon church lashes back at magazine over portrayal of prophet and profits". [[Washington Post]].
  13. Joanna Brooks. "Media". joannabrooks.org.
  14. (March 7, 2012). "13 Religious Women to Watch in 2012". Center for American Progress.
  15. "Staff and Boards". Dialogue Foundation.
  16. Randy Dotinga. (August 19, 2011). "The Liberal, Feminist, Gay-Friendly Mormon". [[Voice of San Diego]].
  17. (August 17, 2017). "Commentary: Putting our shoulders to the wheel to end racism and white supremacy in Mormonism". [[Salt Lake Tribune]].
  18. [[Danielle Dubrasky]], [[Aimee Evans Hickman]], [[Rebecca de Schweinitz]], Joanna Brooks, [[Emily Clyde Curtis]], [[Cynthia Bailey Lee]], [[Benjamin E. Park. "Resources – Shoulder to the Wheel".

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1971-birthsamerican-latter-day-saint-writersbrigham-young-university-alumniliving-peoplemormon-feministsmormon-memoiristsmemoiristssan-diego-state-university-facultylatter-day-saints-from-californiaamerican-women-non-fiction-writersamerican-academics-of-english-literature21st-century-american-women-academics21st-century-american-academicsacademics-from-los-angeles