Closed for Democracy: How Mass School Closure Undermines the Citizenship of Black Americans – Wednesday, October 29, 2025 – 4:30 pm in Benson Center, Pugh Auditorium

Dr. Sally Nuamah will be presenting her latest book, Closed for Democracy: How Mass School Closure Undermines the Citizenship of Black Americans (Cambridge University Press, 2023). Closed for Democracy is the recipient of three 2023 American Political Science Association (APSA) Best Book awards, recipient of the W.E.B Dubois Distinguished book award and named a finalist for the PROSE award in politics. A complimentary copy of her book will be provided to the first 15 interested attendees. This event is free and open to the public. Event sponsors include the Politics & International Affairs department, African American Studies program, Anthropology department, Education department, Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies department, American Ethnic Studies minor, the Center for Literacy Education and the Race Inequality and Policy Initiative. 

Dr. Sally Afia Nuamah is a professor, advocate, writer and filmmaker. She has held positions at several universities including the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, Princeton and Duke University. Currently, Dr. Nuamah is a professor at Northwestern university. Dr. Nuamah is the author of the multi-award-winning books, How Girls Achieve and Closed for Democracy. She is also the creator of the film, HerStory, and the founder of the Twii Foundation, which provides scholarships for girls to be the first in their families to go to college. For her work, Dr. Nuamah has been awarded over thirty honors including Forbes Magazine ’30 under 30′ award and the Andrew Carnegie Fellowship, aka “the Brainy Award.”