Over the summer, Texas Tech University selected Dr. Robyn Adams, an assistant professor of advertising & brand strategy, as their 2025-2026 Activist/Scholar in Residence for Publicly Engaged Humanities for Social Justice. For the next few months, Dr. Robyn will be studying reproductive justice and conducting research at Southwestern. They will also host guest lectures for students and faculty at Southwestern about resources that promote reproductive justice, community humanitarian work, and bring exposure to Black queer feminism. The Megaphone sat down with Dr. Robyn to discuss their fellowship and what they plan to accomplish during their time at Southwestern.

The Scholar in Residence position is a fellowship funded by the Mellon Foundation. The fellowship is centered around interdisciplinary research and community outreach, and includes guest lectures for both faculty and students. Dr. Robyn found the position through a colleague and stated that “the doors opened up very organically.” When asked about what their main goal is within their work at Southwestern, they stated, “Ultimately, my mission here at SU is for students to understand that they have a right to flourish.” Ensuring that students recognize their autonomy and their right to humanity is a key goal in Dr. Robyn’s work.

Dr. Robyn’s main focus is on reproductive justice, fighting racism and neocolonialism, and Black feminism. Their work in reproductive justice centers around the representation of Black queer and transgender people, the destigmatization of pleasure, and human rights. Before coming to Southwestern, Dr. Robyn spent time interviewing Black and transgender employees of adult retail stores in Texas. This lens of their research connects to their overall thesis of how these issues intertwine with reproductive justice and state-sanctioned violence. 

When questioned about the conversation surrounding the criminalization and politicalization of reproductive justice, Dr. Robyn states: “When I think about social interactions and language, I automatically think about power. I automatically think about whose language, whose stories, what interactions am I promoting, what am I passing on?”

An integral part of Dr. Robyn’s approach to teaching is community engagement. Their research has worked to define the connections between one’s sociopolitical identity and their access to health. In the past, Dr. Robyn worked with many communities, including members of the Hispanic community in West Texas, on access to health, food, and clean water. Dr. Robyn stated that the role they play in their community is to be intentional about the voices they uplift. They stated it is “a part of their calling” to fight fascism and state-approved violence through community building. 

“As much as I’m centering community, I’m also a part of community,” Dr. Robyn said when answering how they believe community has impacted their survival, and why the continuation of their work is crucial to the prosperity of others. They continued: “I see it as, wherever I live, it is my obligation to understand what’s going on. It is my obligation to care. And care, radical empathy, is so opposite of state-sanctioned violence…it’s so opposite of fascism.”

One of the most important aspects of community engagement is mentorship, which is an element that Dr. Robyn holds in high regard. They stated that mentorship is “a third space,” and is something that they hope to incorporate into their teaching ethics. When speaking about their role as a mentor and community member, Dr. Robyn stated that their position was analogous to a Griot (a West African culture keeper). 

“I represent my community because I don’t think it’s a choice. I think that I was called to the work.” Dr. Robyn explains their perspective on the importance of basing their work in community. “I merely see myself as like, a vessel, to choose to be able to translate messages from communities [whose] voices are necessarily not prioritized in particular institutions and try to provide that to students…provide that to myself, to faculty members; to try to build power and be in community with folks whose voices need to be heard.”

In many ways, Dr. Robyn’s identity as a Black non-binary feminist connects to their work. Growing up with a single mother and sister, Dr. Robyn saw the effect of rollbacks on reproductive freedom in real time. This later prompted them to become a community-based dula with the Afiya Center, as well as furthering their work with Black birthing folks and their experiences. Dr. Robyn stated, “I understand that my survival depends on community, being a Black trans person. My community needs me to care.”

Dr. Robyn has wasted no time thus far in ensuring that they are making the most of their time at Southwestern. Recently, it was announced that they will be hosting a class at Southwestern for the 2026 spring semester. The class, titled “Our Stories, Our Justice,” will focus on the storytelling of reproductive justice through the lens of Black feminism. Dr. Robyn has been working closely with the Distinctive Collections of the Southwestern Library Center and plans to host this course in the library. One of their main goals with this project is to incorporate different channels of media (literature, music, film, and visual art) into the course curriculum. They are also working to highlight more marginalized stories, such as including Womanly Magazine, where Dr. Robyn was featured as a guest editor, in the library archives.

The Scholar in Residence fellowship is set to conclude in May of 2026.