GVFaces: Kirsten Strom
The art history professor is known for wearing dresses inspired by surrealism that she designs herself.
January 21, 2025 (Volume 48, Number 10)
Article by
Annie Pettit
October 26, 2021 (Volume 45, Number 5)
Article by
Brian Vernellis
Clarice Thomas, ’08, ’10, is one of 10 authors selected for PEN America’s Writing for Justice Fellowship.
Photo Credit: courtesy photo
Grand Valley graduate Clarice Thomas, ’08, ’10, is one of 10 authors selected for PEN America’s 2021-22 Writing for Justice Fellowship.
The PEN America Fellowship supports authors to create written works of lasting merit that illuminate critical issues related to mass incarceration and catalyze public debate.
“It is an honor for me to receive the PEN fellowship,” said Thomas. “As an emerging voice for people who experience social injustice, this opportunity is timely and important."
Currently a faculty member at St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, Thomas earned a bachelor’s degree in history and political science and master’s degree in education from Grand Valley.
After earning a doctorate from Georgia State, Thomas joined the St. Louis faculty as an assistant professor in African American Studies and director of the School of Education’s “Shut It Down” program, which provides training to educators on implicit bias and racial equity.
The PEN America Fellowship will help Thomas’ book project, “Writing Home,” under the direction of assigned mentor, poet zakia henderson-brown.
The book will focus on the personal experiences of Thomas’ grandfather and uncle and provide the backdrop toward her examination of African Americans and the criminal justice system.
At St. Louis University, her research focuses on formerly incarcerated individuals while addressing inequality and injustice among minority communities.
This article was last edited on October 26, 2021 at 11:57 a.m.
The art history professor is known for wearing dresses inspired by surrealism that she designs herself.
January 21, 2025 (Volume 48, Number 10)
Article by
Annie Pettit
Now living in Nebraska, the Omni assistant vice president will move to Michigan with his family in the summer.
December 10, 2024 (Volume 48, Number 8)
Article by
Samantha Drougel
The project specialist for Instructional Technology self-published a book about how her great-grandmother survived the sinking of the Titanic.
October 15, 2024 (Volume 48, Number 4)
Article by
Samantha Drougel