Dr. Morgan L. Henson (he/him/his) is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Rhode Island College, specializing in race, nationalism, and far-right movements across transnational contexts. His research examines how racial ideologies are constructed, weaponized, and digitally mobilized by extremist groups, with regional expertise in the United States, the former Soviet Union, and Germany. His dissertation, "Digital Shadows: Divergent Logics of Legitimacy-Seeking in the German & American Far-Right," investigates how far-right organizations in the U.S. and Germany adapt their legitimation strategies amid distinct national opportunity structures shaped by legal frameworks, historical memory, and party systems. Combining bilingual digital ethnography with systematic qualitative content analysis, his work bridges political sociology, cultural sociology, and critical race theory to reveal how legal, cultural, and historical contexts shape extremist tactics and the production of racial hierarchy.
His research has been supported by Foreign Language & Area Studies Fellowships, the Gullickson Fellowship, and a research award from the Center for German & European Studies. His work has been presented at the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies and the Society for Novel Studies, among other venues. His public scholarship—including policy primers, academic blogs, and op-eds—has been cited in anti-racist curricula and aims to inform evidence-based counter-extremism strategies.
As an educator, Morgan has taught courses on race, ethnicity, and cultural geography at UW-Madison, Madison Area Technical College, and the University of Texas at Austin, emphasizing critical analysis of power structures and real-world applications of sociological theory. His pedagogy centers student lived experiences and engagement with contemporary issues, from online radicalization to comparative racial politics. Beyond research and teaching, he actively contributes to university policy and advocacy, creating initiatives to support marginalized TA communities. His public scholarship—including policy reports, academic blogs, and collaborations with NGOs—aims to inform counter-extremism strategies and foster inclusive academic communities.
Languages: Russian (advanced), German (intermediate), Ukrainian (beginner)