In conjunction with the announcement of the MultiCultural Center’s Scholar-in-Residence Program, the MultiCultural Center, Department of Black Studies, and Social Sciences Division in the College of Letters and Science are honored to announce Dr. Terrance Wooten as the MCC’s Inaugural Scholar-in-Residence during Fall 2020. Dr. Wooten has distinguished himself by engaging in service that aligns with the MCC’s mission to give space and voice to social justice programming and initiatives.
Dr. Wooten has consistently partnered with the MCC and did so early in his tenure at UCSB. On January 14, 2019, as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Black Studies, Dr. Wooten graced the MultiCultural Center’s stage with Professor Jeffrey C. Stewart and Cheryl Wall, Board of Governors Zora Neale Hurston Distinguished Professor of English (Rutgers University) to honor Professor Stewart winning the 2018 National Book Award for The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke. He has also supported the MCC and it’s mission by introducing a number of guest speakers and in doing so, has presented insightful “mini-lectures” about how their work aligns with the MCC’s social justice mission.
Dr. Wooten has engaged in a great deal of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) service across campus though he has been at UCSB for a short amount of time. He serves as a faculty committee member for the following: Center for Black Studies Research Advisory Council; Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies Advisory Council; and Core Member of the 4+1 Ethnic/Feminist Studies & Education BA/MA Program Committee. He serves on the Advisory Board for the Intersectional Justice Facilitator Certificate Program through the Multicultural Center and PaCE. In Winter 2020, he served as a Faculty committee member to the Black Community Dinner Planning Committee through the Multicultural Center. In Spring 2019, he served on the Faculty Advisory Council to the Black Student Union Demands Team. He also provided extensive feedback to the departments of Feminist Studies and Global Studies during recent searches. In the broader Santa Barbara Community, Dr. Wooten served as facilitator for a 3-day, 7 hour a day “Talking in Class” program through “Just Communities” at San Marcos High School. The program allowed a forum for Black high school students from across the Santa Barbara school district to discuss their experiences, as well as develop action plans to present to their school administrators about how to make more inclusive learning environments for Black students.
The labor that Dr. Wooten extends engaging in JEDI service on multiple levels and in various spaces illustrates his commitment to the core mission and values of the MCC. Finally, as a faculty member, Dr. Wooten epitomizes the MCC’s Scholar-in-Residence goal to forge a formal alliance between Student Affairs and Academic Affairs. Hence, he is a model MCC Scholar-in-Residence. The MultiCultural Center is honored to host Dr. Terrance Wooten as the MCC’s Fall 2020 Inaugural Scholar-in-Residence.
