Senior Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
kslocum@unc.edu
919.843.5105
Dr. Karla Slocum was named the inaugural senior associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion, effective September 1, 2022. In her role, she leads strategic directions for diversity, equity and inclusion among faculty and staff in the College.
Karla has distinguished herself as a leader in her more than 25 years at Carolina. She is currently a professor in the department of anthropology. From 2013 to 2021, she served as director of the Institute of African American Research (IAAR) and, from 2002-2006, she was co-director of the Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (MURAP).
At IAAR, she led a number of programs that facilitated and raised the visibility of diverse approaches to scholarship and community engagement on race. For example, she founded and oversaw Student Learning to Advance Truth and Equity, an initiative to engage undergraduates in a critical understanding of race, racism and racial equity, especially as they concern African Americans. She also co-chaired Black Communities: A Conference for Collaboration.
Slocum has spearheaded and previously co-chaired the anthropology department’s concentration on Race, Difference and Power; was the senior faculty mentor for the Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity; and served as a board member for the Latina/o studies minor, the Duke-UNC Consortium for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the Center for the Study of the American South and the Stone Center for Black Culture and History. She has taught courses on gender and culture; race, ethnography and Black communities; and Caribbean societies. Her research interests focus on the social dynamics of race and community, especially focusing on historic Black communities. Most recently, she is the author of Black Towns, Black Futures: The Enduring Allure of a Black Place in the American West.