Shantese Renee Wilkinson holds a masters' degree in Global Gender Studies. Her overall studies with the department is reflective of her thesis topic: interrogating the ways that Toni Morrison uses the characters in The Bluest Eye to respond to white supremacy.
Shantese's current focus is on African-American girls and women in the United States within the 20th and 21st centuries. In addition to work with the department, she is a substitute teacher with Buffalo Public Schools and Erie 1 BOCES, as well as a volunteer with Erie County Democratic Committee. Shantese's current endeavors were triggered by her research and contributions to papers in Literature and Language conferences during her tenure with SUNY Old Westbury, where she graduated with a bachelor of arts in English: Literature and Language in 2013.