L. Herbert Ballou University Professor of Africana Studies, Chair of Africana Studies
An interdisciplinary scholar, Noliwe Rooks’ is the L. Herbert Ballou University Professor in Africana Studies at Brown University and the chair of Africana Studies. Her work explores how race and gender both impact and are impacted by popular culture, social history and political life in the United States. She works on the cultural and racial implications of beauty, fashion and adornment; race, capitalism and education, and the urban politics of food and cannabis production.
The author of four books and numerous articles, essays and op-ed’s, Rooks has received research funding from the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson School among others. She lectures frequently at colleges and universities around the country and is a regular contributor to popular outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Time Magazine and NPR.
