Background
The Karson Institute Senior Research Fellow must be a senior scholar of national or international acclaim researching race, peace, or social justice issues. The Junior Fellow must be an undergraduate student working on a research paper or project that focuses on race, peace, or social justice issues. The Fellows will be in residence for up to one academic year at the Karson Institute. The Senior Fellow will offer a campus and community-wide lecture and the Junior Fellow will host a Koffee and Konvo for students.
Loren Henderson, PhD
While in residence with the Karson Institute, Dr. Henderson will investigate the lived experiences of Black farmers in the United States farming in the midst of systemic racism under COVID-19. Her project will address: 1) Black farmers’ expertise and experiences with establishing and maintaining farms under the onslaught of systemic racism, residential segregation, and COVID-19 2) paying specific attention to Black farmers' use of governmental and private financial resources and their understanding of social policies that impact their ability to establish or maintain their farms.
Dr. Loren Henderson is an accomplished sociologist with a research program spanning multiple sub-disciplines of sociology, focusing on racial inequalities in wealth and health, and the challenges of promoting diversity and inclusion. Dr. Henderson's key contribution to the field of sociology is her co-authored book, Diversity in Organizations: A Critical Examination. Dr. Henderson is also co-editor of "Race, Ethnicity, and the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Dr. Henderson is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy, Vice President of the Faculty Senate at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and the Executive Officer of the Association of Black Sociologists.
Junior Research Fellow - Sarah Naje
While in residence with the Karson Institute, Sarah Naje will work with Dr. Kaye to research racial disparities in patient care. The research will be used in an upcoming paper on neonatal intensive care units where Ms. Naje will identify the root causes of this inequity and explore how social and economic issues often exacerbate this disparity.
Originally from Manchester, NH, Sarah Naje is a first-year student at Notre Dame of Maryland University working toward a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. While in high school, Ms. Naje committed most of her time to volunteer and tutor work--from being a student leader to working with different organizations. In high school, Sarah worked tirelessly to create affinity spaces for students and teachers to ensure that they felt included in the community. Additionally, she also interned with the NAACP Manchester Branch.
William Murphy, Jr., Esq.
Attorney Billy Murphy will be in residence from Sept 1, 2021 - Dec 31, 2023. While in residence with the Karson Institute, Billy Murphy and Karsonya Wise Whitehead will work together to research the history of American racism, race, and racialization, through the lens of both ideology (of racial differences) and methodology (in how racial difference is defined and understood) to complete their manuscript that expands upon Henry Louis Gates and Anthony Appiah's work in Africana and Paulo Freire's work in Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
As the senior partner of Murphy, Falcon & Murphy, Judge William H. “Billy” Murphy, Jr. stands on a respected legacy of legal counsel. He has been a Baltimore trial attorney for decades, aggressively and effectively handling a broad range of ongoing cases. A Baltimore native, My Murphy completed a B.S. in electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, before going on to the University of Maryland School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review. In 1980, Murphy was elected to Baltimore's Circuit Court (Maryland's highest-level trial court), on which he served as a judge for two and a half years before resigning. As an attorney, Judge Murphy has a 90% success rate in state court cases; a 40% success rate in federal cases, which is four times higher than the national average (9%); and over 40 years of experience. Judge Murphy's work has earned numerous honors, including recognition as the "Top Attorney in Maryland" by Baltimore Magazine Super Lawyers, for both 2009 and 2010, and listing among the American Trial Lawyers Association's "100 Top Trial Lawyers in the U.S.", in 2011.