BSOS Welcomes Oscar Barbarin as Chair of AASD

The community of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences proudly welcomes Oscar A. Barbarin, Ph.D., as the new Chair of its African American Studies Department (AASD).

A native of New Orleans, Dr. Barbarin comes to us from Tulane University, where he served as the Lila and Douglas Hertz Chair and Professor in the Department of Psychology. He previously served on the faculty at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. There, he directed the South African Initiative Office and the University Center for the Child and Family.

Dr. Barbarin is glad to return to the University of Maryland, where from 1974 to 1979 he served as an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Psychology Program and as Director of the Community Field Station in the Department of Psychology.

In his new role, Dr. Barbarin will continue his pioneering work examining educational interventions for achievement and social well-being, as well as the role of community and family in health risks and health threats.

Dr. Barbarin’s research is focused on the development of culturally sensitive assessments of psychological disorders in African-American and Latino children. He worked with the Detroit Department of Human Services’ Head Start program to design and implement a program of universal preventive screening of psychological and social risks. In South Africa and in Uganda, he pursued projects related to culture and children’s mental health, and many of his papers examine the interplay of the social, emotional, and academic development of African- American children.

“My scholarly pursuits and ambitions have largely been driven by intellectual curiosity about the resilience of children growing up in adverse conditions such as economic disadvantage and social stigma. Having grown up in poverty in a highly segregated New Orleans, these concern were personal and familial,” Dr. Barbarin said. “Over time, I have studied the academic and psychological well-being of children facing a variety of adversities including chronic and life-threatening illness, poverty, violence, racism, stigmatization and an academic achievement gap. A common goal in in the study each of these diverse phenomena must understand the impact of stressors on families and to elucidate how family functioning moderates the effects of adversity and stress in the lives of children.”

A productive researcher and scholar, Professor Barbarin collaborated on several books, including the Handbookof Child Development and Early Education, Mandela’s Children, Childhood Cancer andthe Family: Meeting the Challenge of Stressand Social Support and Institutional Racismand Community Competence. He has also published numerous articles in leading professional journals.

"The entire BSOS community is excited to welcome a distinguished scholar such as Dr. Barbarin, who will provide outstanding leadership for our African American Studies Department,” Dean Gregory Ball said.

Dr. Barbarin earned a B.A. in philosophy from St. Joseph’s Seminary College, and an M.S. in psychology and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Rutgers University. He was a post-doctoral fellow in Social Psychology at Stanford University.

Dr. Barbarin takes the helm of AASD from Professor of Women’s Studies Ruth Enid Zambrana, who has served as interim chair of the department since January. Dr. Zambrana directs UMD’s Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity and also is an ADVANCE Fellow. Previously, Dr. Odis Johnson served as the department’s interim chair; he has since joined the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis.

“I want to engage the faculty in developing a vision for the department that builds on its current strengths, integrates undergraduate teaching and research, reaches out to collaborate with other units particularly those in BSOS, and applies its intellectual energies to understanding and solving the critical issues facing communities of color in the State of Maryland,” Dr. Barbarin said.

Published on Thu, Jul 2, 2015 - 1:37PM