Tonya Kneff-Chang, Ph.D, is a critical and interdisciplinary historian and public scholar. She examines stories of resistance in the shadows of history to help us understand the past, make sense of the present, and ultimately, illuminate paths toward liberation and justice. Integrating critical historical methodologies and critical race and social theories, her research focuses on racialized violence, collective resistance, and the transformative power of education in the foundations of our social institutions. In addition, her collaborative public engagement projects include MVisible Voices, an intergenerational podcast series; Don’t Leave Us Behind, a documentary about literacy and reading policy in Michigan; and a Campus Historical Disorientation Tour, which examines spatial counterstories through roving discourse.

A former postdoctoral research fellow at the CREATE Center (Community-Based Research on Equity, Activism, and Transformative Education), Dr. Kneff-Chang is co-PI for the School Shuttering and Equitable Educational Access Study (SEEAS). She also served as the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Access, & Justice (DEIAJ) Instructional Lead at the University of Michigan Medical School where she co-developed and co-taught the History of Race and Racism in Medicine course for medical students. She teaches a similar course, The Foundations of Medicine and Healthcare: Understanding the History of Race and Racism in Medicine, for faculty and staff through the Center for History, Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Ethics of Medicine (CHHASSEM). In addition, she teaches in Michigan Medicine’s Doctoring course and is a lecturer in Educational Studies.