Experts available on topics of diversity, equity and inclusion

Racial and ethnic politics expert

Professor of political science and African American studies
Director, Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy

• (847) 467-4697
• alvin.tillery@northwestern.edu

• American politics
• Racial and ethnic politics/ Black Lives Matter
• Media and politics
• Public opinion
• Political communication and political participation

Constitutional law expert

Professor of law

• (312) 503-7617
• paul.gowder@law.northwestern.edu

• Rule of law, democratic theory, social and racial equality
• Constitutional law
• Critical race theory

Expert on inequalities and white privilege

Professor of anthropology; affiliate faculty in African American studies, gender and sexuality studies, and performance studies

• (847) 491-4821
• l-di@northwestern.edu

• Social and economic inequality (by class, race, gender and sexuality)
• White privilege

Expert on demographic inequality

Associate professor of sociology

• (847) 491-2697
• c-percheski@northwestern.edu

• Demographic trends in social inequality, health, employment and family dynamics

Expert on policing and the justice system

Clinical professor of law

• (312) 503-2492
• sheila.bedi@law.northwestern.edu

• Redressing over-policing and mass imprisonment
• Race, gender and the justice system
• Civil rights
• Civil litigation

Expert on civic and urban issues

Adjunct lecturer of social impact

• william.towns@kellogg.northwestern.edu

• Civic and urban issues
• Community and civic partnerships 

Expert on civil rights and health disparities

Daniel H. Renberg Chair of social justice in reporting (with an emphasis on issues relevant to the LGBTQ community) and an assistant professor of journalism

• steven.thrasher@northwestern.edu

• Civil rights relating to race, LGBTQ, disability, gender and economic classes
• Civil rights and activist history, specifically Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street
• Impact of HIV/AIDS, infectious disease, COVID-19 and the opioids crisis
• Addiction and drug policy, access to medicine, and social access to healthcare
• Representations in media, both news and fictional

Expert on social movements and protests

Leon Forrest Professor of Sociology and African American Studies

• (847) 491-3448
• amorris@northwestern.edu

• Social movements and protest 
• Social inequality and race

Expert on contemporary social movements

Professor of political science and African American studies
Director, Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy

• (847) 467-4697
• alvin.tillery@northwestern.edu

• American politics
• Racial and ethnic politics/ Black Lives Matter
• Media and politics
• Public opinion
• Political communication and political participation

Expert on social movement history and protests

Associate professor of African American and Latinx studies

• j-marquez@northwestern.edu

• Politics, the law and social movements
• Social movement histories and protest
• Black Political Thought
• Brown Political Thought
• Chicano/a/x and Latino/a/x Studies
• The U.S. South

Expert on monuments and cultural history

Professor of History

• (847) 491-2849
• kmasur@northwestern.edu
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• American history
• African American history
• Gender and sexuality history
• Slavery and confederate statues
• Race, politics and the state

Expert on historic and COVID-19 health disparities

Vice Dean of Health Equity
Chief of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine
Magerstadt Professor of Medical Social Sciences
Associate Director, Northwestern Medicine’s Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute

• (312) 695-0829
• cyancy@nm.org

• History and impact of health disparities, particularly on the African American community
• COVID-19's impact on minority populations

Epidemiologist and expert on COVID-19 disparities

Vice Chair and Mary Harris Thompson Professor of Preventive Medicine

• (312) 503-4479
• carnethon@northwestern.edu

• Health disparities in COVID-19, obesity and diabetes 

Expert on health disparities and community interventions

Vice Chair of Clinical Research and George H. Gardner Professor of Clinical Gynecology

• (312) 503-8780
• m-simon2@northwestern.edu

• Integrates health services research with social epidemiologic models, focusing on culture and community interventions to reduce and eliminate health disparities among low income, medically underserved women
• Founding director of the Center for Health Equity Transformation and the Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative. 

Expert on community health interventions

Co-director of the Center for Community Health and professor of medicine

• n-kandula@northwestern.edu

• Eliminate health disparities by working with individuals and their communities to develop prevention interventions that reach underserved populations
• Cardiovascular health disparities in U.S. South Asians
• COVID-19 health disparities in U.S. South Asians

Expert on health care and health literacy disparities

James R. Webster, Jr. Professor of Medicine; director of the Center for Applied Health Research on Aging; associate vice chair, Department of Medicine

• (312) 503-5592
• mswolf@northwestern.edu

• Health care disparities
• Health literacy disparities
• Impact of COVID-19 on older adults with underlying health conditions and COVID disparities

Expert on mental health disparities

Associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences

• (312) 695-8099
• iburnett@nm.org

• Disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on low-income communities
• Access to and engagement in mental health treatment 
• Barriers to mental health treatment among disadvantaged populations including racial/ethnic minorities and those with low income, limited education, and limited access to resources
• Low income women and depression 

Expert on mental health stigma in minority populations

Instructor of psychiatry

• aderonke-bamgbose@northwestern.edu

• Mental health in general and social issues as they intersect with mental health
• Stigma associated with mental health among Black ethnic minorities and immigrants

• The intersection of race, religion, stigma and migration

Expert on civil rights and health disparities

Daniel H. Renberg Chair of social justice in reporting (with an emphasis on issues relevant to the LGBTQ community) and an assistant professor of journalism

• steven.thrasher@northwestern.edu

• Civil rights relating to race, LGBTQ, disability, gender and economic classes
• Civil rights and activist history, specifically Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street
• Impact of HIV/AIDS, infectious disease, COVID-19 and the opioids crisis
• Addiction and drug policy, access to medicine, and social access to healthcare
• Representations in media, both news and fictional

Expert on African American history

Professor of history

• (847) 491-3153
• leslie.harris@northwestern.edu

• American history
• African American history
• Southern history and confederate statues
• Urban history

Expert on mixed race identity and politics

Associate professor of Asian American studies and African American studies

• n-sharma@northwestern.edu

• Mixed race identity and politics 
• Dual-minority biracials, including Kamala Harris and Barack Obama 
• Black and Asian relations

Expert on inequalities and white privilege

Professor of anthropology; affiliate faculty in African American studies, gender and sexuality studies, and performance studies

• (847) 491-4821
• L-DI@northwestern.edu

• Social and economic inequality (by class, race, gender and sexuality)
• White privilege

Expert on diversity in journalism

Dean and professor of journalism

• (847) 491-2045
• medill.dean.office@northwestern.edu

• Diversity in media
• Magazines and the media industry
• Involved in multiple initiatives designed to train young writers and address the lack of diversity in the field of journalism
• Former senior editor at Ebony magazine

Studies representations of minority populations in media

Daniel H. Renberg Chair of social justice in reporting (with an emphasis on issues relevant to the LGBTQ community) and an assistant professor of journalism

• steven.thrasher@northwestern.edu

• Civil rights relating to race, LGBTQ, disability, gender and economic classes
• Civil rights and activist history, specifically Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street
• Impact of HIV/AIDS, infectious disease, COVID-19 and the opioids crisis
• Addiction and drug policy, access to medicine, and social access to healthcare
• Representations in media, both news and fictional

Expert on social justice journalism

Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Professor of Journalism

• (847) 491-3955
• j-doppelt@northwestern.edu

• Emerging tenets of social justice journalism
• Reporting of legal and immigrant affairs
• Media law and ethics

Expert on dialects in acting

W. Rockwell Wirtz Professor and director of graduate studies of the MFA in acting program

• stanley.brown@northwestern.edu
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• Voice/dialect for the actor
• Perceptions and impacts of ‘culture’ on voice and speech training for the actor
• Acting and directing

Expert on intersectional entertainment

Professor of communication studies, radio/television/film

• (201) 305-0255
• aymar.jean@northwestern.edu

• TV/film production and representation in writing, labor and storytelling
• TV/film distribution and marketing policy, capital and corporate trends
• TV/film Awards
• Social media platforms, especially creators and original programming
• The art world

• Founder of OTV | Open Television, a research project and platform for intersectional television
• Argues the web brought innovation to television by opening development to independent producers

Musicology expert

Associate professor of musicology; affiliate faculty in critical theory, global avant-garde and modernist studies, the black arts consortium and gender and sexuality studies

• (847) 491-7542
• ryan.dohoney@northwestern.edu

• Musical modernism and experimentalism
• Interdisciplinary artistic collaboration
• Ethnography of music collectives
• Decolonial pedagogies
• Black radical aesthetics
• The anthropology of friendship
• Vernacular metaphysics, religion and mysticism

Expert on building diverse work environments

Clinical Professor of Management and Organizations

• (847)-467-3468
• n-pearce@kellogg.northwestern.edu

• Morality and values-based leadership
• Building diverse workplace cultures

Expert on DEI strategy implementation

Associate dean for leadership development and inclusion, and clinical professor of management

• (847) 491-8638
• bernard.banks@kellogg.northwestern.edu

• Leadership and organizational change
• DEI strategy integration and implementation

Expert on workplace morality and ethics

Associate professor of management and organizations

• (847) 491-4379
• m-kouchaki@kellogg.northwestern.edu

• Psychological effects of moral encounters in the workplace
• Diversity in the workplace
• Behavioral ethics and morality
• Judgment and decision making
• Negotiation
• Authenticity

Expert on equity, diversity and inclusion in higher education

Associate vice president for equity

• tishaunda.mcpherson@northwestern.edu

• Oversees University programs and policies to reinforce an equitable learning and working environment
• Leads University response to reports of discrimination, harassment and retaliation – including sexual misconduct – that impact students, faculty and staff
• Facilitates education and outreach initiatives to cultivate an inclusive campus environment
• Former civil rights attorney with 20 years of experience addressing institutional, regional and systemic discrimination in higher education and employment settings

Expert on diversity in STEM education

Assistant professor of learning sciences in the School of Education and Social Policy; principal investigator and co-director of the Technology Race Ethics and Equity in Education (TREE) Lab

• sepehr.vakil@northwestern.edu

• History and politics of STEM education
• Engineering and computer science education
• Race, identity, and equity in STEM education
• Designing for ethical learning in STEM