Join us in celebrating the Simmons Center’s first graduating cohort of Public Humanities Students: Florence Blackwell, Claire Inouye, Christina Young and Ray Zhang.

Prof. Augusto’s research and teaching interests include subjugated knowledges, global Black radicalism, colonial sciences, higher ed. transformation and visual arts. Her most recent work spans Brazil, the U.S., and South Africa. She insists that the study of slavery and its afterlives should be an international, interdisciplinary, multilingual endeavor, and that knowledge is enhanced when our work keeps this in mind.

We're thrilled to shine a light on Robert Farizer, a dedicated caretaker of the Simmons Center garden for the past decade. As Robert embarks on his retirement after 22 years working at Brown, we thank him for his dedication to the Simmons Center and wish him all the best in the years ahead.

Reina Thomas develops and leads programs that connect RI high school students, educators, and the public with the Simmons Center's scholarship and resources. A Brown MAT graduate, her deep background in education and her passion for equity are key to the success of her work, which includes programs like the Black and Indigenous High School Summer Institute (BIHSI), MET in the Text, and The Teach-Ins.

At Brown University, Ph.D. Simmons Center Race, Slavery, Colonialism and Capitalism Graduate Fellow Arlin Hill is reimagining how culture, power, and identity intertwine. Drawing on the Black Radical Tradition and inspired by thinkers like Sylvia Wynter and Cedric Robinson, Hill examines how colonial assumptions embedded in Western thought shape behavior and self-perception. His work bridges disciplines to uncover the deep connections between race, gender, and capitalism — and to imagine new modes of resistance. Through public panels and community dialogue, Hill invites others to reflect on how social realities are formed, sustained, and transformed.

Brown professor Elena Shih spent years embedded in anti-trafficking organizations across Thailand and China, expecting to document the rescue of sex slavery victims. Instead, her award-winning research revealed a troubling reality: many "rescued" women were never trafficked at all, the rehabilitation programs often caused more harm than good, and the lucrative "slave-free" products sold to well-meaning Americans were built on a carefully crafted narrative that had little to do with what these women actually needed. Her findings challenge the entire anti-trafficking industry and raise uncomfortable questions about who really benefits from the business of rescue.

Historian Mack Scott, Visiting Assistant Professor of Slavery and Justice at the Simmons Center, describes himself as an “actualist.” His varied research interests share a common thread—mending ruptures in the fabric of dominant historical narratives through stories that have been neglected or erased. His goal is a more complete history—one that strives to document what actually happened.