Shannon Harper

Pronouns: she, her, hers

Dr. Shannon Harper is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, and core faculty in the Latino/a Studies Program at Iowa State University. Dr. Harper emphasizes creating inclusive, reciprocal learning environments involving human, supportive professor-student connections, student knowledge/brilliance reinforcement, and empathic consideration when personal challenges arise. She guides students to unpack the complexities of crime and justice wherein students actively apply empirical knowledge and question standard assumptions using empirical scholarship and intersectional framing. 

Dr. Harper’s research explores the relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) and intimate partner homicide (IPH) and the gendered, structural, and cultural contexts through which both correlate and occur. Dr. Harper’s work also investigates how race/ethnicity, class, gender, and other identities intersect to shape marginalized survivors’ IPV and IPH experiences and interactions with the criminal legal system. She has been published in multiple high-ranking, peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Feminist Criminology, Criminal Justice Studies, Homicide Studies, and Journal of School Violence.