海角社区

The Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College has named Professor Lori Martin of 海角社区鈥檚 Department of Sociology and African and African American Studies (AAAS) program as the 2020-21 Erich and Lea Sternberg Honors Professor. Established in 1996, the professorship is the highest award conferred to faculty by the Ogden Honors College. 

鈥淒r. Martin has been teaching in the college for several years, and currently serves as one of the first classes of Ogden Faculty Fellows. She is a tireless advocate for our students and is one of the real faculty leaders on our campus,鈥� said Dean Jonathan Earle. 鈥淭his type of recognition of her work as a scholar and teacher is clearly overdue.鈥�

Martin has taught the popular freshman seminar Honors 2000 several times. 鈥淚 am very proud to be associated with the Ogden Honors College,鈥� she said. 鈥淚'm so proud to be associated with a college that's really concerned about the student experience and student success.鈥�

According to the 1996 gift by Mrs. Lea Sternberg made in honor of her husband Erich, Sternberg Professors are required to possess outstanding academic qualifications and credentials; a preeminent teaching record; and honorable moral and ethical character. These professors are expected to promote intellectual and social progress, trustworthiness, leadership, and patriotism. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know anyone embodying all of these criteria as much as Professor Martin,鈥� Earle said.

鈥淟ori is one of the most significant scholars at the university, and she makes everyone better where she offers her talent,鈥� said Dr. Stephen C. Finley, Director of 海角社区鈥檚 African & African American Studies program. 鈥淭he same is true of her teaching and mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students. She simply has no weaknesses as a professional. She can do it all, and, ironically, she has done it all, from holding administrative positions to being a prolifically publishing scholar.鈥� 

A native of New York state, Dr. Martin came to 海角社区 from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2013. She has since then entrenched herself in 海角社区鈥檚 culture and established herself as a ubiquitous entity on 海角社区鈥檚 campus.

Dr. Martin鈥檚 scholarly expertise is in race and ethnicity in various contexts. She鈥檚 researched race in sports, education, and religion. Dr. Martin has taken a leadership role in the push for AAAS to become its own department, a matter that the Board of Supervisors will vote on in their January 2021 meeting. She authored and  submitted the proposal that will allow students to earn their BA in African and African-American studies rather than a BA in liberal arts with only a concentration in African and African-American studies, a desire of the program for nearly 25 years. She attributes this success for the program to the persistence of directors past and present and the recent demands of the students.

As the Faculty Athletic Representative for 海角社区 athletics, Dr. Martin helps athletics maintain the academic integrity of the institution, monitor the overall well being of student athletes, and to make sure that 海角社区 is in compliance with the SEC and with the NCAA. 

As the 2020-21 Sternberg Professor, Dr. Martin will deliver a formal lecture on April 15, 2021 on the subject of her new book, America in Denial: How Race-Fair Policies Reinforce Racial Inequality in America, which investigates the challenges of claiming to address ongoing racial disparities with race-neutral solutions. 

鈥淚 wanted to write this book because early on in the 2020 presidential election cycle, Senator Cory Booker [D-NJ], who along with others, was promoting a policy concerning 鈥渂aby bonds鈥� where every child born in the U.S. would get, let's say a thousand dollars. And then they would be able to access it at the age of 18 and use it to go to school or buy a house or start a business, which is not a problem. However, it was being touted as a way to address the black-white wealth gap, which is huge and has been growing over time. And so for me, I think that makes no sense to say that you're going to have a policy that's race neutral,鈥� she notes. 

鈥淲e claim that we're going to address racial disparities, but we're too afraid to say that everyone hasn't been treated fairly over time and that we need to consider race when we address these policies. The lecture will focus on wealth, education, the criminal justice system, and health.鈥�