Want to Be an Activist in Residence? A Scholar and an Activist Explain How
There are scholars and there are activists. For the most part, the two have remained in their own kingdoms, separated by university doors. The activists stayed in the streets, responding to the injustices of the world, connecting people to reach their goals. The scholars stayed in universities, writing, thinking, teaching.
When Deva Woodly, an associate professor of politics at the New School, was working on a book about Black Lives Matter and other movements, she wanted to learn more from activists in the field. In her research, the divide between activists and scholars was obvious.
So she lobbied administrators to let her bring an activist, Shanelle Matthews, former director of communications for the Black Lives Matter Global Network, into her world. With a new, yearlong, activist-in-residence position, Woodly created a link between the two groups, with an eye toward teaching more academics to solve real-world problems. Read more….