College of Arts and Sciences
April 26, 2021
The University of Portland has appointed Dr. Amy Abugo Ongiri as Director and Professor of Ethnic Studies, effective July 15. Dr. Ongiri joins UP from Lawrence University, where they were an Associate Professor and the Jill Beck Director of Film Studies. Dr. Ongiri will be the first Director of the newly formed Ethnic Studies program at the University of Portland.
“Dr. Ongiri is a beloved teacher and advisor and has extensive experience in community outreach, multimedia programming, and program development,” Sarina Saturn, co-chair of the Ethnic Studies Director search and Professor of Psychological Sciences, said.
Dr. Ongiri’s research interests include ethnic studies, film and media studies, Africana literature and culture, and gender and sexuality studies. Their book “Spectacular Blackness: The Cultural Politics of the Black Power Movement and the Search for a Black Aesthetic,” explores the cultural politics of the Black Power movements, particularly the Black Arts movement’s search to define a “Black Aesthetic.” Ongiri’s work has been published in College Literature, Journal of African American History, Camera Obscura, Postmodern Culture, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and Nka: The Journal of Contemporary African Art. Their creative non-fiction has appeared in Black Girl Dangerous, Mutha Magazine, Glitterwolf, Black Lesbian Love Lab, and The Rad Families Anthology. They are a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and a judge for The Webby Awards.
“We are so excited about the possibilities for this new program under their leadership, with all the experience, scholarship, and talent that they bring,” Alejandro Santana, co-chair of the Ethnic Studies Director search and Professor of Philosophy, said.
The University of Portland’s new Ethnic Studies program will engage various dimensions of culture and society with a critical, transdisciplinary, decolonial, and intersectional lens. The program will seek to provide a space to hear marginalized voices in the community so that everyone emerges better educated and empowered to address the multidimensional realities of that community for the sake of creating a more democratic, just, and equitable world for everyone.
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