Nuamah Earns Coveted Bellagio Residency
Sally Nuamah studies how race, gender and government policy shape people's lives — and what happens when communities feel left behind by the institutions meant to serve them.
Northwestern University professor Sally Nuamah has been selected as a 2026 Bellagio Center resident by the Rockefeller Foundation — a prestigious 26-day residency on the shores of Lake Como, Italy.
Nuamah, associate professor of political science at the School of Education and Social Policy, will join 86 other leading artists, policymakers, scholars, authors, practitioners and scientists from six continents. Her project, still in the early stages, examines African cultural production, sovereignty, and partisanship.
In addition to focused, uninterrupted work time, residents can network, collaborate and have interdisciplinary, cross-cultural conversations. The center is "a place where an economist, a painter, an astrophysicist, and a poet work together to address the most pressing issues of our time," organizers say. The bonds and connections formed during the residency often extend well beyond it.
The Bellagio Center has hosted some of the most ambitious, innovative and committed leaders of our time — including more than 85 Nobel laureates. Previous guests include economists Amartya Sen and Milton Friedman, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, former Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa Dikgang Moseneke, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, author Maya Angelou and former President of Ireland Mary Robinson.
"I'm humbled to be in their esteemed company," Nuamah says.
Nuamah studies how race, gender and government policy shape people's lives — and what happens when communities feel left behind by the institutions meant to serve them.
Her book "Closed for Democracy" explores what happens to Black Americans' trust in government when their schools are shut down. It won three major awards, including the American Political Science Association's Ralph J. Bunche Award.
Her first book, "How Girls Achieve," was published by Harvard University Press in 2019 — the same year Forbes named her to its "30 Under 30" list in education and she received the Andrew Carnegie Fellowship.
Her current work examines how the punishment of Black women and girls affects their willingness and ability to participate in American democracy. A paper from this research has already earned two national awards. She is now writing her third book, "Mules and the Vanguard," which explores this theme further.
Most recently, Nuamah moderated two breakfast conversations on the intersection of creativity and equality as part of the World Women Davos Agenda, held alongside the World Economic Forum.