marilyn grell-brisk

"The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class – it is the cause of human kind, the very birthright of humanity." Ann Julia Cooper.

About

Bio: i am a transdisciplinary scholar but hold a Ph.D. in Sociology. i specialize in global structural inequality, hierarchy, power, and the connections between exploitative economic systems and climate change, air pollution exposure disparities, racism and othering. Using community-based research practices, i engage in Black Study and i’m particularly interested in global-local social movements that affirm Black(ness) and Black futurity. From 2022-2023 i was the Black Reconstruction As A Portal, Mellon Sawyer Seminar Postdoctoral Fellow at U.C.-Irvine. From 2020 to 2022 i was a member of the Black Studies Initiative Committee which helped establish the Department of Black Study at U.C.-Riverside and helped develop the curriculum as well as secure a half million dollars in funding to support the new department.

Education

  • 2018. PhD. (Magna Cum Laude) Sociology. University of Neuchâtel. Doctoral project focused on global economic stratification as it relates to the rise of China and its impact on various regions in the Global South.
  • 2009. MA. Political Science (emphasis: History of Ideas). University of Lausanne. MA project examined the evolution of Tocqueville’s writings on the issues of race and inequality.
  • 2001. BA. Government w/Leadership Sequence. Claremont McKenna College. BA project dealt with the welfare reforms under the Clinton Administration.
  • 1999. AA. General Science. Santa Monica College.

***Proud first gen. college grad and immigrant!***

i am currently a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Organizational Studies Field Group and a faculty member of the Critical Action and Social Advocacy (CASA) program at Pitzer College.