Dr. Vanessa M. Holden (she/her) received her Ph.D. in African American and Women's and Gender History from Rutgers University. She currently serves as the director of the  African American and Africana Studies Program and the director of the Central Kentucky Slavery Initiative at the University of Kentucky. Her research focuses on African American women and slavery in the antebellum South. Her areas of interest are the history of resistance and rebellion, gender history, and the history of sex/sexuality. She offers courses in American History, African American History, and African American Studies.