{{short description|American academic and activist (born 1976)}} {{Infobox person | name = Amanda Gailey | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1976|03|24}} | education = {{Plainlist| * University of Nebraska–Lincoln * Creighton University * Phillips University }} | occupation = academic and political activist | employer = Washington University in St. Louis <br> University of Georgia <br> University of Nebraska–Lincoln | organization = Nebraskans Against Gun Violence, founder and president | notable_works = ''Proofs of Genius'' }}
'''Amanda A. Gailey''' (born March 24, 1976) is an American academic and political activist. She is an associate professor of English at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Gailey authored ''Proofs of Genius'' in 2015.
== Education ==
Gailey did her undergraduate work at Phillips University and her graduate work at Creighton University and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unl.edu/english/amanda-gailey|title=Amanda Gailey|date=November 5, 2020|website=University of Nebraska-Lincoln}}</ref>
== Career == She worked at Washington University in St. Louis and University of Georgia before joining the faculty at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Her work, including ''Proofs of Genius: Collected Editions from the American Revolution to the Digital Age'', focuses on nineteenth-century American literature and textual studies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unl.edu/english/amanda-gailey|title=Amanda Gailey|date=November 5, 2020|website=University of Nebraska-Lincoln}}</ref>
=== Activism ===
In 2017 Gailey participated in a protest of Turning Point USA, a national organization that maintains a “professor watch list.” A recruiter for the organization set up a table on the campus of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and Gailey held a sign that said “Turning Point: Please put me on your watch list.” Another protester, graduate student Courtney Lawton, eventually lost her job for her involvement in the protest, which led to the University being placed on the American Association of University Professors’ censure list for violating Lawton’s academic freedom and due process.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/Dust-Up-Involving-Conservative/241262|title=Dust-Up Involving Conservative Student Sparks Political Uproar in Nebraska|first=Eric|last=Kelderman|date=September 21, 2017|website=The Chronicle of Higher Education}}</ref> Governor Pete Ricketts responded to the protest by taking the unprecedented step of rescinding Gailey’s and Lawton’s Nebraska Admiral awards, which received criticism as being politically vindictive. The protest and response from politicians received considerable media attention, including an episode of ''This American Life'' called “My Effing First Amendment” that was broadcast on May 4, 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/645/my-effing-first-amendment|title=My Effing First Amendment|date=April 27, 2018|website=This American Life}}</ref>
As the founder and president of Nebraskans Against Gun Violence, Gailey threatened a boycott of First National Bank of Omaha unless the bank ceased its special credit card program with the National Rifle Association.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://journalstar.com/business/local/first-national-bank-cuts-ties-with-nra/article_81cf1073-a381-5d8b-88b4-f8d8497b8725.html|title=First National Bank cuts ties with NRA|first=Matt|last=Olberding|website=JournalStar.com|date=22 February 2018 }}</ref> Soon after the bank announced it was discontinuing the program, a number of other corporations also ended their special offers and programs with the gun rights group.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2018-02-23/enterprise-first-national-bank-drop-gun-lobby-affiliation-as-boycottnra-builds|date=February 23, 2018|newspaper=U.S. News & World Report|title=Companies Cut Ties With NRA as #BoycottNRA Builds|first=Megan|last=Trimble}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/02/23/boycottnra-enterprise-omaha-bank-end-gun-lobby-deals-as-boycott-movement-gains-steam/|title=#BoycottNRA: Hertz and Avis are the latest companies to cut ties with gun lobby as movement gains steam|newspaper=Washington Post|date=February 23, 2018}}</ref>
In 2018 Gailey and Catherine Koebel organized a protest in Alexandria, Virginia, that targeted Chris W. Cox, who was then the chief lobbyist of the National Rifle Association. The protest was controversial for implicating Cox's wife's business and because the protesters held a graphic gunshot image on the public sidewalk in front of Cox's home.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/protesters-target-nra-lobbyists-home-and-wifes-business/2018/04/20/106c77f4-433a-11e8-bba2-0976a82b05a2_story.html|title=Protesters target NRA lobbyist's home and wife's business|newspaper=Washington Post|date=April 20, 2018}}</ref>
Gailey contributes to the political blog Seeing Red Nebraska.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://seeingrednebraska.com/about/|title=About|date=November 5, 2020|website=Seeing Red Nebraska}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *{{IMDb name}}
{{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Gailey, Amanda}} Category:Living people Category:1976 births Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty Category:Phillips University alumni Category:University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni Category:Washington University in St. Louis faculty Category:University of Georgia faculty Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers Category:American women non-fiction writers Category:21st-century American women writers Category:American academics of English literature Category:American activists Category:American gun control activists Category:Creighton University alumni