Zenzile Riddick Joins SESP Faculty
Zenzile Riddick, whose research straddles education, history and Black Studies, has joined Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy as assistant professor of human development and social policy.
Riddick is currently a doctoral candidate and Presidential Scholar at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education; she will graduate in May. She previously earned her bachelor’s in sociology with a minor in history from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Her scholarship examines Black education in the past and present, and combines theories and methods in history, sociology, Black studies, and women's and gender studies.
“Riddick’s work is inherently interdisciplinary—a perfect fit for the School of Education and Social Policy,” said Dean Bryan Brayboy.
In addition to her research, she has partnered with organizations as a consultant specializing in education, data analysis, and program evaluation. She has also designed and led various mentorship programs for low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented college students.
House of the Children
Riddick’s career path was influenced by her own educational experience, which included attending Ile Omode, an African-centered elementary and middle school in her East Oakland neighborhood.
She described Ile Omode (a Swahili phrase that means “House of the Children”) as both a culturally and academically enriching experience that provided the foundation for her work as a historian of education. “The staff of all-Black teachers and the very active parent community continuously upheld the school’s mission ‘to give birth to the genius in every child,’” she said.
Today she focuses on the history of African American education, including the experiences of students, families, and teachers from slavery through the 20th century. She’s especially interested in Black women’s educational leadership and activism, as well as learning in alternative, Black-led educational spaces.
“SESP’s community of faculty and students approach important questions in the study of education and policy from a wide range of lenses,” she said. “I’m looking forward to bringing a historical lens to the amazing interdisciplinary work already being done.”
For Riddick, the value of higher education—and education in general—can be found in Carter G. Woodson’s classic 1933 text, The Mis-Education of the Negro. In it, he describes a “real education” as one that inspires people to “begin with life as they find it and make it better.”
“This means education not only has the power to transform an individual’s knowledge and sense of self but can also empower them to be change makers in the world,” she said.
While Woodson was writing specifically about the Black educational experience in the early 20th century, “the challenge to create higher education spaces that empower all students to think critically and become social change-makers remains,” she said. “At its best, a real higher education is the catalyst for developing learners who are empowered to transform society for the better.”