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Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice

Distinguished Faculty

Support and Engagement Opportunities for Senior Faculty

Announcements and Accolades

John Keene Awarded The National Book Award in Poetry

Rutgers University–Newark Distinguished Professor John Keene Keene has won the National Book Award for Poetry for his latest collection of poems, Punks: New & Selected Poems (Song Cave, 2021).

Keene received the award on Wednesday, November 16 at the 73rd National Book Awards Ceremony & Benefit Dinner, held by the National Book Foundation at the Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. The event took place in-person for the first time in two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic and was livestreamed online.

John Keene National Book Award

Airea D. Matthews Named Philadelphia Poet Laureate

The institute congratulates Airea D. Matthews on being appointed the 2022–2023 Philadelphia Poet Laureate by the Philadelphia Poet Laureate Governing Committee!!!

Matthews’s term as Philadelphia’s sixth Poet Laureate began on January 1, 2022. We at the ISGRJ are so proud to have Dee bringing her talent and wisdom to our endeavors and her care and compassion to our projects. She has been central in the design and pedagogy of the Poets and Scholars Summer Writing Retreat and serves as an adviser and consultant for the ISGRJ “Race, In Theory” Fellows Humanities Seminar. Brava Dee!

Dee Matthews

Esteemed Faculty Fellows and Visiting Scholars

Distinguished Faculty Fellows

These eminent Rutgers faculty members contribute in singular ways to the struggle for global, racial, and social justice in such areas as public arts, education, health, public policy, and criminal justice. They serve as consultants to institute directors, mentor postdoctoral and faculty fellows, and contribute to the institute’s projects, programs, and community.

Deborah Gray White at podium

Senior Faculty Fellows

Senior faculty fellows are prominent members of the Rutgers faculty who serve as mentors for institute postdoctoral and faculty fellows and whose research, scholarship, and pedagogy contribute in singular ways to areas of concern in the struggle for global, racial, and social justice, including public arts, education, health, public policy, and criminal justice. The fellows participate in setting the vision and direction of the institute and contribute meaningfully to the institute’s projects, programs, and community. If they lead centers in related research areas on Rutgers’ campuses, the institute may also partner with their center on specific projects.

Stacy Hawkins at podium

Visiting Scholars and Senior Consultants

These institute contributors are established scholars and creatives in their fields with a strong research agenda and public profile in topics related to global racial justice. Visiting scholars and consultants provide educational, artistic, and policy guidance on key institute programs and initiatives and find, in turn, a sound stage, worktable, and communities of care for their ideas.

Khalil Mohammed at podium