Lori Barcliff Baptista, an interdisciplinary scholar and artist whose work has focused on addressing social issues in minority communities, has been named director of the African-American Cultural Center of the University of Illinois at Chicago. The appointment, subject to approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, is effective August 1.
Baptista comes to UIC from Chicago’s Field Museum. As urban anthropology manager in its division of environment, culture and conservation, she led efforts to engage members of Chicago’s diverse communities in climate action projects that emphasized quality of life issues, healthy living, food and heritage practices, and engagements with nature.
“Lori is a creative scholar and leader, and particularly well known for her community building skills,” said Bette L. Bottoms, vice provost for undergraduate affairs and dean of the Honors College, who oversees UIC’s six Centers for Diversity.
“She brings an intriguing vision for the center that will immediately engage and support UIC students, faculty, and staff members and create bridges to the community. We are fortunate to welcome her to the African-American Cultural Center.”
Baptista says she intends to strengthen the center’s presence and impact on and beyond the UIC campus through cultural, social, and scholarly activities that highlight campus and community assets and address important social matters.
“I’m looking forward to collaborating with campus and community stakeholders to strengthen the African-American Cultural Center’s capacity to serve as an engaging, creative space, a dynamic hub for information and resources, a campus ‘home,’ and a bridge to other communities and publics,” Baptista said.
Baptista has more than 15 years of experience with research, development, and participation in cultural programs and initiatives that convene artists, civic leaders, students, faculty and staff, cultural institutions, and grassroots organizations to address social concerns.
As a fellow at the University of Chicago’s Civic Knowledge Project, she developed a multimedia project that explored food production, food access, and urban agriculture in Chicago. Her most recent research, an ethnographic study of Chicagos Roseland community, highlighted urban agriculture as a creative model that the predominantly African-American community could use to address concerns such as food access, crime and safety, and youth development.
Baptista has served as a mentor and tutor to diverse college student populations, supervised undergraduate student research projects, and conducted writing and presentation workshops at Northwestern University. She has also taught film, literature, and performance-based courses and developed course materials for public school teachers and community educators.
Her experience also includes serving as a liaison to film and music festivals in the San Francisco Bay Area and in her hometown of Newark, N.J., where she was an advisory committee member for events such as the Newark Black Film Festival and Sounds of the City.
Search committee co-chair Rebecca Gordon, director of the Women’s Leadership and Resource Center at UIC, said that under Baptista’s leadership students will find the center to be “a place where they can creatively engage in culture, arts, history and contemporary issues that face the African-American and African Diaspora communities.”
Baptista earned a Ph.D. in performance studies from Northwestern University, a master’s degree in liberal studies from Rutgers University, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley.
The African-American Cultural Center of UIC contributes to the academic mission of teaching, research, service, and diversity by promoting the expression and analysis of all African-American creative and cultural traditions and trends and their sources and influences.
For more information about UIC, please visit www.uic.edu.
Editor’s note: Photo for download is available at: http://newsphoto.lib.uic.edu/v/baptista/