Historian Keisha N. Blain named New America Fellow

On Sept. 21, Keisha N. Blain, an award-winning historian and writer, and associate professor of history in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, added one more prestigious award to her resume.

Blain has joined the New America National Fellows Class of 2022. New America is an organization committed to investing in thinkers who generate ideas that impact and spark new conversations about the most pressing issues of our day.

Blain is currently a fellow for the Institute for Advanced Study, one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry, whose previous members and faculty include Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer. Her 2018 book "Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Woman and the Global Struggle for Freedom" won several awards, and in 2021, she published two acclaimed books: "Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619 -2019," edited with Ibram X. Kendi. Blain is currently an opinion columnist for MSNBC, and she is writing another book that highlights the history of Black women and the struggle for human rights.