Merging Your Research with Advocacy

About

Please join us for an exciting event on Merging Your Research With Advocacy with Drs. Mark Cornelius Booker, Menika Dirkson and Stacey Patton!

When: Thursday, November 12th from 11:00 to 12:45

Where: Graves School of Business and Management, Room 112

Reflecting MSU’s unique commitment to incorporating justice into its research initiatives, this panel discussion will offer insights to early and late career researchers alike, on topics including how to align your research with your values in a rapidly changing research environment, how to safely build a public/online presence as a scholar-advocate, finding publication venues that support this kind of work, and navigating the job market.

Organized by the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs in the School of Graduate Studies, this panel event is open to all who are interested in learning more about how to integrate social justice and advocacy into their research.

Meet our panel of outstanding speakers:

Dr. Mark Cornelius Booker is a social science practitioner and lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Delaware State University. He has extensive experience teaching in Maryland prison higher education programs: Second Chance Pell Experiment at Jessup Correctional Institution (Bowie State University and the University of Baltimore), the former Higher Education Programs for Correctional Institutions at Patuxent Institution (Coppin State University), and the former Inmate Extension Program at the

Maryland Penitentiary (Morgan State University). He also volunteers for the Brenda Murray Book Group at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women. NBC4-WRC-TV, The Baltimore Sun, the Howard County Edition, and The Capitol Gazette have featured his expertise. Before entering academia, Dr. Booker was the CEO of We Teach and Tutor, LLC, for seven years. He holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Organizational Policy, Governance and Administration from Morgan State University, an M.S. in Criminal Justice Administration from Coppin State University, and a B.S. from Howard University, including professional certificates in leadership, community engagement, and conflict resolution.

Dr. Menika Dirkson is an Associate Professor of African American History at Morgan State University. She received her PhD in History from Temple University and Master's and Bachelor's degrees in History from Villanova University. She is the author of the 2024 book, Hope and Struggle in the Policed City: Black Criminalization and Resistance in Philadelphia. She recently was an ASCEND Faculty Research Fellow at Yale University and is currently researching race, crime, policing, and graffiti in post-1968 Philadelphia.