Dr. Deidre Hill Butler is an expert on topics related to the sociology of African American Culture and African American women’s representations in society.  Professor Hill Butler’s academic research focuses on the ways in which African Americans engage and represent themselves in social spaces; the Black Baptist Church in New England, blended families, and community revitalization efforts. Dr. Hill Butler’s forthcoming book manuscript explores experiences of African American stepmothers. Since the spring of 2012, Dr. Hill Butler has been the prime research designer on a second book project about the Bordeaux Hills neighborhood of Nashville Tennessee which centers on aspects of black women’s community revitalization efforts since a 2010 devastating flood. Active in community organizations inside and outside of the academy, Dr. Hill Butler is an active member of Capital Region Consortium for ALANA (African, Latino, Asian and Native American) Faculty group and she is a lifetime member of the Association of Black Women Historians. Dr. Hill Butler is also a member of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, National Council for Black Studies and the New York African Studies Association.