Scholars in Residence
Chatham University Women's Institute
Each year, the Women's Institute hosts a Scholar in Residence for a week or more

njaimeh njie , artist-SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE
spring 2020
The Women's Institute and Immersive Media program are thrilled to welcome artist Njaimeh Njie to Chatham University as an Artist-Scholar in Residence for the Spring 2020 semester. This residency is supported through a grant from the Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh Initiative, funded by the Pittsburgh Foundation and
Past Scholars in Residence

Keisha N. Blain (2018-2019) is a historian of the 20th century United States with broad interdisciplinary interests and specializations in African American History, the modern African Diaspora, and Women's and Gender Studies. She completed a
Blain is one of the co-editors of Charleston Syllabus: Readings on Race, Racism and Racial Violence (University of Georgia Press, 2016), which grew out of her #Charlestonesyllabus, a Twitter movement and crowdsourced list of reading recommendations relating to the history of racial violence in the United States. It was created in response to the racially motivated shooting that took place in Charleston, South Carolina in June 2015 and has drawn international attention. She also co-authored Trump Syllabus 2.0, a mock syllabus and public reading list that explores the deep historical and political roots of Donald Trump's political success during the 2016 Presidential campaign. That syllabus has been featured nationally.
Blain

Vanessa German (2017-2018) is an award winning spoken word artist, poet, sculptor, painter, writer, and activist based in Pittsburgh. She is the founder of Love Front Porch and the ARThouse, a community arts initiative for the children of her historic Homewood neighborhood. Her performances combine her poems with hip hop, story telling, music, and movement. She performed at last year’s Gender Symposium here at Chatham, and has been featured at everything from Mayor Peduto’s inauguration ceremony to social justice rallies to TEDx Harvard, TEDx MIT, and TEDx Pittsburgh.
Her sculptures and other work are in private and public collections including Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, The Progressive Art Collection, David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora, Snite Museum of Art, among others. German’s fine art work has been exhibited widely, most recently at Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, GA; the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT; the Studio Museum, Harlem, NY; the Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL; and in the traveling exhibition State of The Art: Discovering American Art Now, which originated at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR. Her work has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, NPR’s All Things Considered and in The Huffington Post, O Magazine and Essence Magazine. She is the recipient of the 2015 Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant and was a member of the inaugural 2009/2010 class of fellows at the August Wilson Center of African American Culture.

Callie Crossley (2016-2017) is a media commentator and public speaker and currently hosts Under the Radar with Callie Crossley. Crossley formerly served as host for Boston Public Radio and The Callie Crossley Show. She is a regular contributor on National Public Radio, CNN, Fox 25 TV's Morning Show, and the PBS NewsHour.
Crossley was a producer for Eyes On the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, the critically acclaimed documentary series, which earned her an Oscar nomination, a national Emmy, and major film and journalism awards, including the Gold Baton of the DuPont-Columbia Award, considered the Pulitzer Prize of broadcast journalism. As a network television producer, Crossley also earned top awards for her health and medical stories produced for ABC News' 20/20. Crossley balances her commentary and speaking schedule with her work as Program Manager for the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, designing and directing the foundation's seminar series. Through her company, CrossChannels, she consults for both journalism projects and documentary filmmakers and leads media coaching workshops. Crossley has been both a Nieman Fellow and an Institute of Politics Fellow at Harvard University.