
Professor Robert P. Robinson Awarded Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship
Dr. Robert P. Robinson, assistant professor in the Department of Africana Studies, received a Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Academy of Education for the 2025-26 academic year. The fellowship supports research that addresses critical issues in education through funding, professional development and mentoring from senior scholars.
Robinson’s work focuses on the Black Freedom Movement, Black education history, Blackqueer studies, digital humanities, history of education and curriculum studies. His forthcoming publication, Stealin' the Meetin', is the first full-length book about the Black Panthers’ Oakland Community School, positioning it in the long tradition of education for liberation that critical educators still draw from today.
Robinson’s recent publications include “Blackqueer Currere: A Method in Three Breaths” in Women’s Studies Quarterly (2025), “To the Famous Jett Jackson: A Midnight Essay on Black Possibility” in Killens Review of Arts & Letters” (2024) and “Left Behind but not Left Alone: Testimonies of Black Preservice Experiences with White Cooperating Teachers” in the Journal for Multicultural Education (2023).
Robinson earned a PhD from the CUNY Graduate Center, MA from San Diego State University and BA from Cal-Poly Humboldt.