As a direct response to the racial violence and civil unrest that immediately followed the police killing of George Floyd, Graduate Studies at The University of New Mexico launched a pilot initiative to support graduate student research on critical race studies, broadly defined. The aim is to build a cohort of graduate scholars engaged in critical race work, to encourage intersectional collaboration of their research, and to provide professional and academic support toward the completion of their degrees.
Graduate Studies named five Critical Race Scholars, and, through the generosity of the Division of Equity and Inclusion headed by Assata Zerai, two more recipients were added to the cohort as honorable mentions.
“In all, we are supporting seven named critical race scholars, but given the number of applicants and their exceptional quality, we need to be supporting many more if we want to change our civic and cultural lives today for a better tomorrow,” said Jesse Alemán, associate dean of Graduate Studies.
The scholars will focus on completing their research, presenting or publishing it in an appropriate venue, and will convene occasionally for workshops, discussions, and guest presentations.
“Graduate Studies remains committed to equity and excellence in graduate education, and we’re optimistic that our first cohort of critical race scholars will lead the way,” said Dean Julie Coonrod.
Graduate Studies would like to acknowledge all who applied for the award and would like to thank the special selection committee that convened over the summer; Assata Zerai and the Division of Equity and Inclusion, and Margaret Gonzales, senior operations manager in Graduate Studies, for taking on the added work.
Full list of fellows can be found here: http://news.unm.edu/news/graduate-studies-announces-2020-2021-critical-race-scholars
KOAT Action 7 news interview talking about the critical race scholars program. My work predominately focuses on mental health disparities in Black communities. This scholarship has been a wonderful opportunity to expand my platform and continue to bring awareness to Black mental health issues.