David Knight, assistant professor of sociology and Black studies at Yale University and member of the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School, is one of two recipients of the inaugural Early Career Award for Community-Engaged Scholarship from the American Sociological Association. The award recognizes Dr. Knight for “his visionary leadership in documenting the history of political mobilization within U.S. prisons and for his commitment to horizontal research partnerships with directly impacted communities.”
A political sociologist of the carceral state, Dr. Knight investigates how communities experience mass incarceration and mobilize in response to it. He is the founder of the [Movements Against Mass Incarceration Lab](https://movements.incite.columbia.edu/), which uses archival and survey methods to explore the politically contested nature of the prison state. Additionally, Dr. Knight leads a multi-state study of the rise of local health equity interventions following the 2020 protests against police violence and mass criminalization.
Dr. Knight received his bachelor’s degree in history from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago. He joined the Yale faculty in 2025.
SOURCE: The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, October 23, 2026