The Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice

Item

Legacies Classification
Memorial Organization
Memorial Type
Societies
Memorial Context
Reparative
Title
The Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice
Background and Context
The Karson Institute is an organization at Loyola University Maryland that "provides a scholarly space for professors, students, social justice workers, and activists to come together to research, discuss, debate, and explore answers to America's most urgent questions on inequality, injustice, and racial inequity. We are committed to establishing a research and data-based environment built on intersectional liberated ideas and ideologies."

In October 2020, Loyola University Maryland’s Office of Equity and Inclusion and Loyola College of Arts and Sciences launched the Karson Institute. Dr. Karsonya Wise Whitehead, associate professor of Communication and African and African American Studies at Loyola, is the Karson Institute's founder and director. Dr. Whitehead is also well-known for her work hosting the radio show Today With Dr. Kaye on WEAA and for her role as an opinion editorial columnist for the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper. Naming the Institute after her father, Karson Wise, Whitehead viewed the Karson Institute as a place in which hard conversations about race, inequality, and injustices can be discussed and tackled.

Using its resources, the Karson Institute organizes events both on campus and throughout Baltimore to raise awareness and stimulate discussions on social issues. The Institute also develops youth programs centered around improving the lives of young men and women in Baltimore. One example is the Karson Institute's Backpack Journalism program, designed to give middle and high school students the power, tools, and training to tell their own stories of their neighbors, communities, and themselves.
Date created, installed or dedicated
October 2020
Historical Period
2000-Present: Memorialization in the Era of Universities Studying Slavery and the Black Lives Matter Movement
Funded by
Loyola University Maryland Board of Trustees
Location: Institution, City, State
Loyola University Maryland; Baltimore, Maryland
Learn More About this Subject
Karson Institute Home Page
2023-2024 Annual Report by Karson Institute
Participant
Dr. Karsonya "Kaye" Wise Whitehead, Karson Institute Founder and Director

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