Kimberly Cook

Dr. Kimberly Cook is a Professor of Sociology and Criminology at UNCW. In 2001, Dr. Cook traveled to Australia and New Zealand as a Fulbright Senior Scholar to study the restorative justice diversionary programs. She has published research articles about restorative justice, wrongful convictions, shelter services for battered women, and feminist criminology. She is past-President of the Board of Directors for Healing Justice (a national nonprofit offering restorative justice based peer-support and policy reform for people directly impacted by wrongful convictions). She is co-author (with Saundra D. Westervelt) on the first systematic research with exonerated death row survivors in the United States, Life After Death Row: Exonerees’ Search for Community and Identity (Rutgers University Press, 2012). Dr. Cook has authored numerous research articles and multiple books. Her most recent books include
1. Shattered Justice: Crime Victims’ Experiences with Wrongful Convictions and Exonerations with Rutgers University Press, 2022
2. Survivor Criminology: A Radical Act of Hope, with Rowman & Littlefield. 2022
Dr. Cook has facilitated cases in Juvenile Court, public schools, and local non-profit organizations. She has offered training for restorative justice practices, and is co-facilitator of the Wilmington chapter of Coming To The Table, a racial transformation program, and is a member of the New Hanover County Community Remembrance Project. Dr. Cook is especially interested in using restorative practices to promote racial and gendered justice, and has been trained by national leaders in restorative and racial justice work.

Education

Ph.D. in Sociology, University of New Hampshire (1994)
M. A. in Sociology, University of New Hampshire (1990)
B. A. in Sociology, University of Maine (1987)

Specialization in Teaching

Criminological Theory
Restorative Justice
Victimology
Crimes Against Humanity

Research Interests

Specialization areas:
Criminology, Restorative Justice, Wrongful Convictions, Victimization,
Violence Against Women, Feminist Criminology, Legacies of Racial Violence

I mainly use qualitative research methods.

Professional Service

Editorial Board, Wrongful Conviction Law Review, (founding member) 2020 - present
National Association of Community and Restorative Justice, 2009-present
2011, Co-Organizer for National Conference in Raleigh, NC
2020-present, virtual circle keeper for periodic circle process related to national events, virtual circle keeper for Obama Foundation Leaders USA program, and Voyager program.
American Society of Criminology, 1989 - 2020
Division on Feminist Criminology, formerly Division on Women and Crime
Elected Chair, 2014-2016
Elected Secretary/Treasurer, 2001 - 2006
Internal Awards Committee, Chair, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
Interim Secretary (appointed), 2001 - 2002
Interim Treasurer (appointed), 2000-2001
Executive Board Member, 1998 - 2000
Outreach Committee, Chair, 1998-2000
Division on People of Color and Crime
Division of Critical Criminology
Gene Carte Student Awards Committee, 1998-2000
Employment Exchange Committee, 1998-1999, 2000 – 2002
Program Committee for annual conference, 2008, 2013

Peer Reviewer for the journals: American Sociological Review, Social Problems, Criminology, Feminist Criminology, Gender and Society, Sociological Inquiry, Sociological Perspectives, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Justice Quarterly, Theoretical Criminology, Contemporary Justice Review, Violence Against Women, and Crime and Delinquency, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Feminism and Psychology.

Community Engagement

2020 – present, member, New Hanover County Resiliency Task Force
2022, Panelist, New Hanover County Community Book Reading program, Hell of a Book, by Jason Mott. Panel discussion regarding community policing in diverse neighborhoods. Wilmington, NC., August 16.
2021-Director, Restorative Justice Collaborative at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (launched January 2021)
2019-present: New Hanover County Community Remembrance Project Coalition, partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative, Montgomery, Alabama
2017-present: Co-facilitator of Wilmington, NC Chapter of Coming To The Table
2015-2024: President (2020-2023), Board of Directors: Healing Justice, nonprofit organization addressing the harms of wrongful convictions.
2015-present: Restorative Justice training and development in New Hanover County public schools.
2015-present: Restorative Justice Facilitator for District Court 5, Juvenile Court.
2015-2016: Facilitated training for New Hanover County School Personnel on developing restorative justice practices consistent with the newly adopted MOU for school discipline.
2014-2021: Board of Directors: LINC (Leading Into New Communities), non-profit organization, Wilmington, NC. (2015-2020, Chair of the Board of Directors)
2014-present: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; New Hanover County Chapter, Wilmington, NC. Criminal Justice Committee member.

Honors & Awards

2022-present, Faculty Fellow, 1898 Legacies and Futures Research Collective, University of North Carolina Wilmington.
2022, Lifetime Achievement Award, Division on Critical Criminology and Social Justice, American Society of Criminology.
2022, UNCW Distinguished Professional Service and Scholarly Engagement Award (Senior award recipient)
2021, UNCW Office of Community and Engagement and Applied Learning, 1898 Curriculum Development Faculty Fellow
2020-2023, UNCW Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, Faculty Fellow

ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
• 2023, UNCW, College of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts, Research Reassignment, August – December.
• 2022, Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation workshop, AAC&U, June 21-24, 2022.
• 2021, Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience, Restorative Practices, Eastern Mennonite University, Summer Peacebuilding Institute.
• 2020, Red Road Approach Restorative Justice, Generation Red Road, Inc.
• 2018, Writing Intensive Faculty Fellow, UNCW
• 2018, Coming To The Table, Restorative Practices for Addressing Historical Racial Harms
• 2016, UNCW, College of Arts and Sciences, Research Reassignment, January - May
• 2015, Restorative Justice Training at Impact Justice, Oakland, CA
• 2015 – present, Research Associate: West Virginia University Research Center on Violence
• 2007, Bridges Program on Academic Leadership for Women, University of North Carolina System.
• 2004, Certified facilitator for Maine’s Restorative Justice programs for juvenile offenders
• 2001, Fulbright Senior Scholar, Australian National University, January - June. Research: Restorative Justice Practices in Australia and New Zealand, Academic Host: Professor John Braithwaite