Liberal Arts Expertise Around Issues of Race, Justice, Dignity, and Respect
"CLA is the campus home for research, teaching, and community engagement in the study of race, indigeneity, disability, gender, and sexuality. Our departments of African American & African Studies; American Indian Studies; Chicano & Latino Studies; American Studies; and Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies; and the Asian American Studies Program are among the first and most prominent in their respective fields. And our departments across the arts, humanities, and social science address issues of race, justice, dignity, and respect in their research, creative work, and instruction.
We in CLA will continue to provide the leadership in this work that is so critically needed in our community and our society today."
— John Coleman, Dean
Our faculty bring their insights and expertise into reciprocal engagement with local, national, and global communities around issues of race, justice, dignity, and respect. This work has always been critical, and its importance was heightened even further in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd. On this page, we gather examples of recent contributions by CLA faculty to these ongoing and crucial conversations. (Last updated 12/30/22)
African American & African Studies and the Transformative Power of Knowledge
In the wake of George Floyd's murder, African American & African Studies core and affiliate faculty offer perspectives on the policing crisis and the imperative of racial justice to articulate knowledge for our time.
Joint Statement from AAS and AA&AS on Anti-Asian Violence and the Atlanta Shooting
Rose Brewer, professor
Expertise: Social and behavioral sciences, public policy and development, African diasporic studies
- As 1967 uprising anniversary nears, parallels to George Floyd protests surface (The Star Tribune)
- 'Conversations about Racism and the Road to Equality:' Understanding racism (KSTP)
- The Minnesota Paradox (Minnesota Alumni Magazine)
- The Afterlives of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre (Black Perspectives)
Keith Mayes, associate professor
Expertise: 19th and 20th-century African American History, Kwanzaa and Black holidays, Civil Rights and Black Power Movement, Black history and educational policy, African American public history
- Justice always eludes us in Minneapolis. Will George Floyd's case be different? (Washington Post)
- MPD uses force against blacks at far higher rates than whites (Star Tribune)
- George Floyd’s Death and the Long History of Racism in Minneapolis (Time)
- Prof. Keith Mayes on the Minneapolis officer-involved death (WCCO) - audio file
- What will it take to end U.S. protests (CBC) - video
- Years of mistrust have undermined relations between Minneapolis police and black community: ex-chief (CBC)
- Justice always eludes us in Minneapolis. Will George Floyd’s case be different? (The Washington Post)
- Minnesota community leaders on George Floyd's death and systemic racism (CBS) - video
- KARE 11 Investigates: MPD uses force against blacks at far higher rates than whites (KARE11)
- George Floyd's Minneapolis: Multicultural facade hid decades of simmering racial inequality (USA Today)
- Professor Keith Mayes: celebrations like Juneteenth 'speak to what it means to be Black in the United States' (The Current) - audio with transcript
- A look at the history of racial covenants and housing discrimination in Minneapolis (Kare11)
- 'Conversations about Racism and the Road to Equality:' Understanding racism (KSTP)
- Police reform? Not far enough for some (Rochester Post-Bulletin)
Yuichiro Onishi, Associate Professor of African American & African Studies and Asian American Studies, Chair of the Department of African American & African Studies
Expertise: Black radicalism and internationalism, African American history, transnational American studies, critical race studies, Asian American studies
- A Politics of Our Time: Reworking Afro-Asian Solidarity in the Wake of George Floyd’s Killing (Unmargin)
- We Who Are AA&AS (University of Minnesota)
Terrion Williamson, associate professor, McKnight Presidential Fellow, and director of the Black Midwest Initiative
Expertise: Contemporary African American literature, Black cultural studies, feminist theory, midwest studies, racialized gender violence
- ‘We have another virus to fight, and it’s more important’: Dispatches from women protesting in Minneapolis (The Lily)
- Remembering David Cornelius Smith (Belt Magazine)
- Director of The Black Midwest Initiative
- Editor of Black in the Middle (available for pre-order)
- Black Stories Matter: Terrion Williamson and Jabari Asim on Narrative During the George Floyd Protests (Literary Hub) - podcast
- City That Once Guided a Nation Now Shows Its Cracks (The New York Times) - PDF
John Wright, professor emeritus, Departments of African American & African Studies and English
Expertise: American and Afro-American literature; intellectual history and popular culture, folklore and oral tradition, sociology of literature, feminist criticism, Harlem Renaissance, Black Arts Movement, Langston Hughes
- The Minnesota Paradox (Minnesota Alumni Magazine)
Vicente Diaz, associate professor
Expertise: critical indigenous studies in North America and the Pacific Ocean region
Brenda Child, professor
Expertise: American Indian history, Public History and Museums, Ojibwe People of the Great Lakes, American Indian Women and Labor, The History of American Indian Education
Jessica Lopez Lyman, associate professor
Expertise: Midwest Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x Studies; gentrification & Latina/o/x urbanisms; immigration; performance and visual art; feminist, queer, and decolonial social movements
Jimmy C. Patiño Jr., associate professor
Expertise: Race/Class/Gender; Chicano/a and Latino/a History, Culture and Politics; Immigration and the U.S.-Mexico Border; Latino/a Civil Rights and the Chicano/a Movement; African American and Latino/a Relations
Catherine Squires, professor
Expertise: Media, race and politics; gender and media studies; public sphere studies; community-engaged research; educational inequality
Laurie Ouellette, professor of cultural studies & comparative literature and communication studies, department chair of cultural studies & comparative literature
Expertise: Media studies; television studies; gender and sexuality; biopolitics and governmentality; lifestyle and consumer culture; precarity, labor, and class; media historiography; digital media and culture
- Cancelling COPS (Film Quarterly)
John Wright, professor emeritus, Departments of African American & African Studies and English
Expertise: American and Afro-American literature; intellectual history and popular culture, folklore and oral tradition, sociology of literature, feminist criticism, Harlem Renaissance, Black Arts Movement, Langston Hughes
The Minnesota Paradox (Minnesota Alumni Magazine)
Bruno Chaouat, professor
Expertise: Holocaust studies, ethics and literature, 20th-century novel, literary theory, intellectual and cultural history (20th-21st century France)
- Protests in Minnesota, as seen by a resident (Les manifestations au Minnesota, vues par un résident) (Rush hour Toronto/Windsor) - audio file in French
Zenzele Isoke, associate professor, chair of gender, women & sexuality studies
Expertise: Black femme/queer of color feminism, Black feminist thought, urban ethnography, feminist theory and methods, Black/African diaspora studies, Black cultural theory, Black geographies
Adam Bledsoe, assistant professor
Expertise: Black geographies, African diaspora, political geography, critical theory, political movements
Kate Derickson, associate professor and Director of Urban Studies
David Chang, Distinguished McKnight Professor and chair of the American Indian studies department
Expertise: Indigenous studies, Indigenous history, Native Hawaiian History, US West, Race and Nationalism, US 19th- and 20th-century history, US colonialism
Tracey Deutsch, associate professor
Expertise: United States, Women's History, and Business
- Protesters in Kentucky wage hunger strike until officers who killed Breonna Taylor are fired: 'Our voices have been ignored' (Yahoo! News)
- Supermarkets are powerful flash points in racial politics (Washington Post)
Erika Lee, Regents Professor and Director of the Immigration History Research Center
Expertise: Xenophobia, Migration, Race, and Ethnicity; Asian Americans; 20th-century United States; Law and Public Policy
- Race in America: History Matters with Erika Lee & Helen Zia (The Washington Post)
- Americans are the dangerous, disease-carrying foreigners now (The Washington Post) - PDF
- New University of Minnesota history project shows COVID-19 impact on immigrants (KMSP Fox 9)
- University of Minnesota launches research project, 'Immigrants in COVID America' (KARE 11)
- Op-Ed: What does it mean to be American? Ask an immigrant (LA Times)
- Xenophobia’s historical roots run deep in our nation of immigrants (LA Times)
- Students of color know that having diverse teachers can make a huge difference. Last year, Minnesota finally took real steps to expand its teaching corps. (Sahan Journal)
Saje Mathieu, associate professor
Expertise: African American history since Reconstruction, World War One; US history from 1865 to the present; immigration, social movements and political resistance; race and sport; Black/African diaspora studies
- Fury across US as protesters demand justice for George Floyd's death (NBC News)
- ‘It’s Been Setting in on Me That This Is Like a Cycle’ (The Atlantic Magazine)
- Racial violence and a pandemic: How the Red Summer of 1919 relates to 2020 (NBC News)
Zozan Pehlivan, assistant professor
Expertise: Environmental History, Pastoral Nomadism, Animals, Modern Middle East, Ottoman Empire
- Current situation and racism in protests in the USA (Medyascope) - video in Turkish
William P. Jones, professor
Expertise: Civil Rights Movement, African Americans, 20th-century United States, Unions/Organized Labor
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U of M 2022 Community Engaged Scholar Award: Professor William Jones (University of Minnesota) - video
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Revealing the Value of the Essential (University of Minnesota)
Danielle Kilgo, John & Elizabeth Bates Cowles Professor of Journalism, Diversity and Equality
- 'Put this on the news': Powerful moments from Floyd protests (the Christian Science Monitor)
- National Media Coverage of Black Lives Matter Had Fallen During the Trump Era — Until Now (FiveThirtyEight)
- Unicorn Riot's protest coverage brings global notice to the alternative media group (Star Tribune)
- Why Black Women Are Often Missing From Conversations About Police Violence (FiveThirtyEight)
Jane Kirtley, Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law and director, Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law
Expertise: Constitutional law, EU data protection, First Amendment, free speech, freedom of information, freedom of the press, information privacy, media ethics, media law, media/military relations, national security
- Minnesota Governor Apologizes for Arrest of CNN Crew (US News)
- Journalists wage legal fights after facing protest attacks (Associated Press)
- Minneapolis City Council prepares to vote on eliminating MPD PIO, some call to postpone vote (KSTP)
- Unicorn Riot's protest coverage brings global notice to the alternative media group (Star Tribune)
List of Incidents Involving Police and Journalists During Civil Unrest in Minneapolis, MN
Compiled by the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law
Errol Salamon, Postdoctoral Teaching Associate
Expertise: Journalism studies; media history; political economy of communication; cultural studies; digital media; media policy
- Unicorn Riot's protest coverage recalls long history of grassroots video production (The Conversation)
Emily Vraga, Associate Professor
Expertise: Identifying and correcting misinformation; political communication; health communication; digital media effects
Roque Diaz, graduate student
Timothy Johnson, professor
Expertise: Supreme Court Oral Arguments and Decision Making, The Evolution of the Norm of Respecting Precedent in U.S. Courts, Executive/Judiciary Relations, Judicial Politics, American politics
- American Indians see change coming (Star Tribune)
Michael Minta, associate professor
Expertise: Congressional politics, race and ethnic politics, interest group advocacy
August Nimtz, professor
Expertise: African politics, comparative politics, ethnic politics, Marxism, political development, politics of the transition to socialism, political economy
- 'Policing and Racism are Public Health Problems.' How Minneapolis Protesters Contend With COVID-19 (Time)
- August Nimtz on-air interview - video (C-TV Canada)
- How to more safely protest in a pandemic (Vox)
- It’s a big deal that the outrage expressed over George Floyd’s death was massive and multiracial (MinnPost)
- This wave of protests is a reaction to Donald Trump (Chicago Tribune)
- Desde Minnesota: Duelen todas las víctimas de la brutalidad policial (From Minnesota: All victims of police brutality hurt) (Prensa Latina) - news article in Spanish
- Minnesota civil rights leaders reflect on the power of the streets and the long road to justice (Star Tribune)
- Episode 59: The George Floyd Protests: The history of police brutality in the Twin Cities (In the Know -Podbean)
- Why There Are No George Floyds in Cuba — August H. Nimtz (Legal Form)
- Campus Unrest and the Politics of Law and Order, Part 2 (Dialogue Minnesota)
- How to move forward after the conviction of George Floyd's murderer (TMJ4 Milwaukee)
Kathryn Pearson, associate chair, Department of Political Science
Expertise: American politics, US Congress, women and politics, Congressional elections and political behavior, US political parties
Eugene Borgida, professor of psychology and law
Expertise: Social cognition, attitudes and persuasion, psychology and law, political psychology
- Can implicit bias training help cops overcome racism? (Popular Science)
Nathan Kuncel, professor
Expertise: Structure and prediction of performance in academic and work settings
Richard M. Lee, Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Distinguished University Teaching Professor
Expertise: Racism, discrimination, xenophobia and implications for mental health and parenting in Asian American families; impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, well-being, and school/work performance; transracial and transnational adoption; culture-specific risk and protective factors on the development and well-being of families and youth of color
- Supporting Asian/Asian American Children and Youth during the COVID-19 Pandemic (Society for Research in Child Development) - webinar
- Xenophobia and COVID-19: Strategies to Support Asian American Communities (Center on Race and Social Problems) - webinar
- Addressing Race Through Comics (University of Minnesota)
- Rich Lee Comments on Racist Remarks by Purdue University Northwest’s Chancellor (University of Minnesota)
- Finding the words to heal from racial trauma (TEDx Talks)
Paul Sackett, Richard Fink Distinguished Professor
Expertise: Personnel decision making, job performance, counterproductive behavior in the workplace, managerial potential
Moin Syed, Associate Professor
Expertise: cultural/ethnic minority psychology, racism/discrimination, identity/personality, narrative psychology, development and open science
Samantha Anders, professor
Expertise:
Traci Mann, professor
Expertise: Self-control of health behaviors, eating regulation, attention and self-control, body image, health and behavior change
- Have the Dangers of Extra Pounds Been Exaggerated? (Bloomberg Health Podcast)
UMN Racial Justice Resources
The Race, Indigeneity, Disability, Gender & Sexuality Studies Initiative compiled a collection of racial justice resources for students, staff, faculty, and community partners who are activists and are looking for support for their work, models from similar organizing efforts, and potential collaborators and coalition partners.
Cawo Abdi, associate professor
Expertise: Migration; gender, race, and class; family; Islam; education, development studies; human rights; globalization; Africa; Middle East
- Black community left with tears, exhaustion after death of George Floyd (CBC)
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Race, resistance, and rage in the midst of COVID-19 (MinnPost)
Douglas Hartmann, professor and sociology department chair
Expertise: Race, ethnicity, and Immigration; sociology of culture, sport studies, social movements, American society, field methods, contemporary theory, public engagement
- Would resuming or halting the NBA season help the league's efforts to fight racial inequality? (USA Today)
- Black Lives Matter: Should sports and politics mix? (Al Jazeera)
- When Athletes Become Advocates For Social Change (Dialogue Minnesota)
Carolyn Lieber, associate professor
Expertise: Race and Ethnicity, Social Demography, Indigenous Peoples, Social Stratification, Sociology of the Family and Life Course, Social Support
- For U.S. Census, Documenting Multiracial Heritage Is Harder Than It Sounds; Census data provide clearest picture of race in America—but even that is incomplete (Wall Street Journal)
Enid Logan, professor
Expertise: Blackness in the Americas; contemporary U.S. race relations; race and the body; race and electoral politics; Blacks and social class; Afro-Latin America
- 4 charts that help explain the Minnesota paradox (Marketplace)
- La Transformation semble en marche aux Etats-Unis, et pas seulement pour le crops policier - Transformation seems to be taking place in the U.S., and not only within the police (Le Devoir - French Canadian)
- Estados Unidos. O velho racismo que nunca desapareceu - The Old Racism that never disappeared (SOL - Portugese)
- Organizers set to honor the history and celebrate the future of Juneteenth in Minnesota (Fox9)
- South Dakota town lashes back at George Floyd, his uncle after Confederate flag debate (Star Tribune)
Joshua Page, Don A. Martindale Professor of Sociology, Beverly & Richard Fink Professor in CLA
Expertise: Crime, law, deviance, and punishment; labor and unionization; political sociology, qualitative research methods, social theory
- Protesters call for head of Minneapolis police union to resign (Fox9)
- How Minneapolis is trying to reimagine the future of policing (PBS News Hour)
- Dismantling the police, reimagining public safety (MinnPost)
- Defunding the police: Could it hurt or help elder abuse efforts? (Star Tribune)
- Release of Derek Chauvin again brings bail questions to the forefront in Minnesota (Star Tribune)
- ‘Unconscionable.’ How a surge in domestic violence is saving the bail bond industry (The Sacramento Bee)
Michelle Phelps, associate professor
Expertise: Crime, law and deviance; inequality; mixed methods
- Minneapolis struggled with police violence and adopted reforms. 'And yet, George Floyd is still dead.' (Washington Post)
- The Intersection of Public Safety and Public Health (Twin Cities PBS) - video
- Protests spread over police shootings. Police promised reforms. Every year, they still shoot nearly 1,000 people. (Washington Post)
- Police unions are the final boss of the law enforcement abolition movement (Mic)
- Killing of George Floyd shows that years of police reform fall far short (Star Tribune)
- Dismantling the police, reimagining public safety (MinnPost)
- What Does "Dismantling" the Police Really Mean? (Dialogue Minnesota)
- What does changing the Minneapolis city charter mean for public safety? (MN Daily)
- Minneapolis police face staffing challenges as violence rises (Star Tribune)
- Mental health 911 response teams to begin Nov. 29th (MN Daily)
Chris Uggen, Regents Professor
Expertise: Crime, law, and justice
- Despite Uproar over Floyd's Death, the Number of Fatal Encounters with Police Hasn't Changed (The New York Times)
Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, assistant professor
- Racism's Hidden Toll (The New York Times)
- Realities of Race and the Pandemic: Reckoning with Mortality (A Research & Creative Excellence Interview)
- Her study on racial disparities in the number of COVID cases reveal disparities in the health care system has been featured in:
Statements of Support and Commitment
- College of Liberal Arts
- African American & African Studies
- American Indian Studies
- American Studies and Race, Indigeneity, Gender & Sexuality Initiative (joint statement)
- Asian American Studies and African American & African Studies (joint statement)
- Anthropology
- Classical & Near Eastern Studies
- Economics
- English
- German, Nordic, Slavic & Dutch
- Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
- History
- Holocaust & Genocide Studies
- Human Rights Program
- Immigration History Research Center
- Journalism & Mass Communication
- Music
- Political Science (PDF)
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Spanish & Portuguese Studies
- Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences
- Writing Studies