Selected Research Areas
Social Justice
The University of Maryland is engaged in research and education to increase knowledge, promote racial equity and social justice, and work toward the eradication and dismantling of structural and systemic racism. Our research across disciplines focuses on a variety of topics, including social policies and reforms, policing, the criminal justice system, sentencing and incarceration, voting and social movements, health equity, work and the economy, family, violence, the arts and humanities, geography, and climate. Drawing from our diverse disciplines and the expertise of our faculty, our researchers are engaging in these topics using solution- and change-oriented approaches.
Video: Bringing Healthcare to the Barber's Chair
Through Shots at the Shop, the University of Maryland, the White House and community partners team up to save lives, turning barbershops and beauty salons into trusted health information centers during the pandemic and beyond. Watch on YouTube
Dr. Stephen Thomas, School of Public Health professor and director of the Maryland Center for Health Equity, shares the story behind this #FearlesslyUMD community-engaged research. Video by Bethany Swain.
UMD Select Capabilities
News From Across UMD
November 2021
- How To Bring the True Value of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Into Entomology (November 17, 2021)
- When is “Neighborhood Change” Gentrification? It Could Depend How It Is Studied (November 12, 2021)
- English Department Launches ‘Committee for Antiracism, Accessibility, Respect, Equity, and Social Justice’ (November 8, 2021)
- Social Justice in Action (November 8, 2021)
- Arts and Humanities Colloquium: Christopher Bonner Discusses Voting and Racial Justice (November 3, 2021)
- Unequal Protection Revisited: Planning for Environmental Justice and Critical Infrastructure (November 2, 2021) (link is external)
- Go ‘Beyond the Field’ With Homecoming Address (November 1, 2021)
October 2021
- UMD, Google Unit Partner on Developing VR Training Platform for Police (October 27, 2021)
- Reclaiming Heritage: Digitizing Nipmuc Histories from Colonial Documents (October 20, 2021)
- Student Journalism Project Sheds Light on Role of White Supremacist Newspapers in Fueling Racial Tension, Violence (October 18, 2021)
- $3.7M NIH Grant Supports Development of Chatbot to Help New Moms, Babies (October 15, 2021)
- Improving Disaster Communication for Marginalized Communities (October 11, 2021)
- Catherine Knight Steele Authors New Book, "Digital Black Feminism" (October 8, 2021)
- Piecing Together a Historic Puzzle (October 5, 2021)
September 2021
- Study Shows Effective Ways to Support Black Teens Facing Discrimination (September 29, 2021)
- Study: Anti-Black Racism Fell—Temporarily—Following Floyd’s Killing (September 27, 2021)
- La Profesora and the Podcast (September 27, 2021)
- Professor’s Longtime Archaeological Site Dedicated in Virginia (September 24, 2021)
- Neel Ahuja's New Book, "Planetary Specters: Race, Migration, and Climate Change in the Twenty-First Century" Reviewed in Scientific American (September 23, 2021)
- Oscar Barbarin Awarded Grant To Study Racial Disparities in School Discipline (September 2021)
- AERA Recognize Sharon Fries-Britt with the 2021 Social Justice in Education Award (September 3, 2021)
August 2021
- Life, Liberty and a Place to Live (August 27, 2021)
- Ending Structural Racism in the US Health Care System (August 23, 2021)
- Articles by Ana Ndumu: Exploring the Intersection of Libraries, Demography, and Social Inclusion (August 20, 2021)
- The Fourth Thursday: “Urban Renewal Impact” in Asheville (August 19, 2021)
- Professor's New Book Explores ‘Failed Promise’ of Reconstruction (August 18, 2021)
- UMD Study Finds Black Offenders More Likely than White Offenders to be Eligible for Life Sentences (August 16, 2021)
- UMD-Led Analysis: Racial Disparities in Maternal Deaths Larger Than Thought (August 12, 2021)
July 2021
- Privilege, Politics Influence Vaccine’s Racial Disparity (July 30, 2021)
- COE Researchers Awarded $577K to Study Teacher Diversity (July 27, 2021)
- Los Angeles Review of Books Releases UMD English Antiracism Publication (July 6, 2021)
- Grant to Fund Study of Latinx Representation in Higher Education Leadership (July 1, 2021)
June 2021
- Professor Ray Honored with Public Understanding of Sociology Award (June 29, 2021)
- Brindle's International Development Work Empowers the Maasai through Teaching Intellectual Property (June 29, 2021)
- A Look Inside COVID-19 and Structural Racism in the United States (June 18, 2021)
- Five Ways Environmental Health Science Community Can Tackle Racism, Combat Inequities (June 18, 2021)
- Dr. Janelle Wong featured in NBC News Article on Misconceptions Around Viral Images Showing People of Color as anti-Asian Perpetrators (June 16, 2021)
- An Injection of Trust: Dozens Get COVID-19 Vaccine at UMD-Sponsored Clinic at Local Beauty Salon (June 15, 2021)
- Dickerson Part of Google Award to Promote Diversity and Fairness in AI Systems (June 7, 2021)
- In Black Radical Artists, Professor Finds Methods to the ‘Madness’ (June 4, 2021)
- Barbershops to Cut Through Vaccine Hesitancy (June 2, 2021)
May 2021
- 2021 Making African America Symposium (May 28, 2021)
- Meet Dr. Maze: Among the World’s First Black Ph.D. Holders in Survey Methodology (May 27, 2021)
- UMD/Luminis Partnership Provides COVID-19 Vaccinations in the Trusted Barber’s Chair (May 20, 2021)
- Fighting Forgetting (May 19, 2021)
- ‘It’s Not an Error, It’s a Language’ (May 19, 2021)
- Seeking Answers and Action: The BSOS Anti-Black Racism Initiative (May 17, 2021)
- Mellon Supports UMD African/Black Diaspora Research Seminar (May 14, 2021)
- UMD Libraries Contributing National AFL-CIO Records to Digitization of Historical Labor and Civil Rights Materials (May 14, 2021)
- The Struggle to Legislate Environmental Justice (May 6, 2021)
- NEH Grants to Support History Professors’ Research (May 4, 2021)
- $1.4M Grant to Expand Enslaved.org (May 3, 2021)
April 2021
- English Department To Collaborate on Three Antiracism Publications (April 29, 2021)
- Learning from 2020 to Advance Public Health (April 29, 2021)
- Richard Bell Awarded a Carnegie Fellowship To Support Work on Racial Justice (April 28, 2021)
- Examining the Impact of Black Lives Matter on Policing Reform (April 21, 2021)
- Joseph Richardson Part of Panel Calling for Changes in Policing to Reduce Inappropriate Use of Force (April 21, 2021)
- Grant Will Expand Black Digital Studies at UMD (April 14, 2021)
- Framing Environmental Health Decision-Making: The Struggle Over Cumulative Impacts Policy (April 9, 2021)
- University of Maryland Launches National Network to Tackle Small Business Displacement (April 7, 2021)
- Big Brands Take Aim Over Georgia Voting Laws (April 7, 2021)
- Robert S. Levine's New Book Listed as History Books to Lookout For Summer 2021 (April 6, 2021)
- Dr. Thurka Sangaramoorthy Co-author on Invited Editorial Using the COVID-19 Pandemic to Reimagine Global Health Teaching in High-Income Countries. (April 6, 2021)
- UMD Libraries, Others Partner on $750K to Archive Social Justice Activism by College Students of Color (April 2, 2021)
- Op/ed: Beyond Vaccine Hesitancy (April 2, 2021)
March 2021
- Commentary: Understanding the caution behind COVID-19 vaccines (March 29, 2021)
- UMD Expert: Shootings Followed ‘Intensified Feeling of Anxiety’ in Asian American Communities (March 22, 2021)
- Dr. Devon Payne-Sturges Develops New Tools to Protect Children From Environmental Toxins that Impact Neurodevelopment (March 11, 2021)
- Dr. Jie Chen Awarded $2.3 M NIH Grant to Promote Care Coordination for African American and Hispanic Adults with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (March 4, 2021)
- Watch Video: The Anti-Black Racism Initiative (March 1, 2021)
February 2021
- Dr. Quynh Nguyen Awarded $3.3M NIH Grant, Will Use Twitter Data to Characterize Racial Climate Across US (February 25, 2021)
- Making Space for Black Art in Academic Art History (February 25, 2021)
- State Must Boost Affordable Housing, UMD Report Finds (February 22, 2021)
- Working Together to Show COVID's Impact on Communities of Color (February 19, 2021)
- Movement Money: Crises, Relief, and Democratic Practice (February 17, 2021)
- UMD Driskell Center and iSchool Launch New Crowdsourcing Project to Preserve the Work of African American Art Pioneer (February 16, 2021)
- ‘It’s Not an Error, It’s a Language’ (February 15, 2021)
- Merrill College's DeNeen Brown at Heart of Upcoming National Geographic Documentary on 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre (February 10, 2021)
- HBO Documentary Explores Impact of ‘a Trailblazer for All of Us’ (February 9, 2021)
- Bold Action for Environmental Justice (February 8, 2021)
- Conference to Celebrate Groundbreaking 1989 Collection of Caribbean Women Writers (February 8, 2021)
- 'MPower' in Action: COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Study (February 1, 2021)(link is external)
January 2021
- “For Black Americans, the New Deal left an ambivalent legacy that does not offer an easy template for change.” (January 29, 2021)
- "Police brutality and hate crimes against Latinxs rarely makes headlines.” (January 29, 2021)
- Overcoming a Legacy of Medical Racism Amid COVID (January 27, 2021)
- Faith, Science, and Trust: Fauci Talks with UMB, Clergy Leaders (January 25, 2021)(link is external)
- Under direction of Dr. Jordana Moore Saggese, BLACKNESS centered for first time ever in current edition of Art Journal (January 20, 2021)
- New Technique Explores African American Willingness to Participate in Genomics Research through Storytelling (January 11, 2021)
- UMD Joins CommuniVax Rapid Research Coalition to Engage Communities in an Equitable COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign (January 8, 2021)
- Book: Why We Are Losing the War on Gun Violence in the United States (January 7, 2021)
December 2020
- "Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped Into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home" (December 8, 2020)
- UMD Report: Baltimore’s School Construction Program a Win for Students, but Less So for Neighborhoods (December 4, 2020)
- Black Families Matter: A Call to Action for Therapists to Do Better for African American Clients (December 3, 2020)
- Reconstructing Fragmented Lives (December 1, 2020)