News

New UDARI Co-Chair

Posted on January 24, 2022 at: 10:33 am

Dear supporters of the UD Anti-Racism Initiative,

Lynnette Overby and I would like to thank Dr. KC Morrison for his time and leadership and to wish him well in his retirement (which began in January). We are thrilled to introduce Dr. Earl Smith as a new co-chair of UDARI.

Earl Smith, PhD, is Professor of Women & Gender Studies at the University of Delaware. Dr. Smith, PhD, is Emeritus Distinguished Professor of American Ethnic Studies and Sociology at Wake Forest University, and is currently teaching classes in Sociology, African and African American Studies, and Women & Gender Studies at UD. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut. His teaching and research focus on the sociology of sport, social stratification, criminal justice, and race. He is the author and co-author of 12 books, including his most recent books, Policing Black Bodies, 2^nd ed., (2021), Gender, Power and Violence (2019) as well as dozens of book chapters and peer-reviewed articles. Along with Dr. Angela J. Hattery, Dr. Smith recently completed work on a three-year project examining the living and working conditions in solitary confinement units in a state prison system. The project involved nearly 100 interviews with inmates and staff living and working in solitary confinement as well as ethnographic observations. Way Down in the Hole: Race, Intimacy, and the Reproduction of Racial Ideologies in Solitary Confinement will be published by Rutgers University Press in 2022. Dr. Smith has written several books on the impact of social inequality on Black families. His book Race, Sport and the American Dream, which has been published in three editions, remains the only book on the market that examines structural racism in sports. On a regular basis he is consulted as an expert by the New York Times, USA Today, and a variety of other news outlets. He teaches courses on social stratification, race and ethnicity, social problems, race and gender, and sexuality and sports.

We are grateful for the wisdom and scholarly engagement Dr. Smith is bringing to his new role as UD Anti-Racism Initiative Co-Chair.

Best wishes,

Lynnette Overby and Alison Parker

UD Anti-Racism Initiative Co-Chairs