URCAD Keynote Speaker: Dr. Eric Grollman

Dr. Eric Anthony Grollman(they/them/theirs) is a Black queer non-binary intellectual activist and Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Richmond. Their research spans three areas: the negative impact of discrimination on victims’ health; sexual orientation differences in social and political attitudes; and, the limits of dominant group members’ tolerance of marginalized groups. They recently co-edited an anthology entitled Counternarratives from Women of Color Academics: Bravery, Vulnerability, and Resistance with Dr. Manya C. Whitaker. In promoting social justice in and through sociology, they founded the blog ConditionallyAccepted.com(a weekly career advice column for marginalized academics on Inside Higher Ed), co-founded Sociologists for Trans Justice, and pursued various initiatives to address sexual violence in academia. 

Dr. Grollman(’07) began at UMBC as a MeyerhoffScholar majoring in math before leaving the program to double major in sociology and psychology, and pursue a certificate in gender and women’s studies. They served as secretary of the Freedom Alliance, and secretary and then president of the Student Events Board. As a scholar-activist, they pushed for the creation of a campus resource center for LGBTQ students (“the Rainbow Center”), using their honors thesis research to document the prevalence of anti-lesbian and -gay attitudes on UMBC’s campus as evidence that such a center was needed. They presented the findings of their honors thesis at URCAD in 2007, published their thesis in the UMBC Review in 2008, and later co-authored a paper in International Journal of Sexual Health with their advisor, Dr. IlsaLottes, using their honors thesis data.

Co-sponsored by the UMBCLGBTQFaculty and Staff Association (LGBTQ FSA)