Larycia Hawkins is the Abd el-Kader Visiting Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture. Her research engages the intersections of race/ethnicity, religion, and politics. Her writing, speaking, teaching, and scholarship are squarely animated by a conviction that political science should be relevant to the real world. Thus, the perennial questions that plague our polity are the questions that plague her: What does it look like to live out the stated constitutional commitment to justice? What does it mean to transcend theoretical solidarity with the oppressed and move to actual, embodied solidarity with the oppressed? What does conscientious citizenship look like?

Hawkins received her undergraduate degree from Rice University and her MA and PhD from the University of Oklahoma. At the Institute, Hawkins will focus her research on the relationships between races and religions. She will also serve as a scholar on the Race, Faith, and Culture Project and on the Pluralism Project. 

Dr. Hawkins’ recent publications include “Prophetic and Priestly: The Politics of a Black Catholic Parish” (2015) and “Jesus and Justice: The Moral Framing of the Black Agenda” (2015). She previously founded and directed the Peace and Conflict Studies program at Wheaton College, where she served for 8 years as Associate Professor of Political Science.

You can follow Dr. Hawkins on Twitter at @LaryciaHawkins.