Flagg named Lehmann Research Professor

Barbara Flagg, J.D., professor of law, has been named the John S. Lehmann Research Professor for 2008-09. The Lehmann professorship allows scholars to concentrate on in-depth research projects while relieving them of teaching and administrative duties during a semester.

During her research leave, which began in August, Flagg will be completing a book titled “The Souls of White Folk,” which examines the reasons white people have not done more to combat racial discrimination in the United States.

“The professorship gives me the opportunity to do additional interdisciplinary research in the areas of history and social psychology, both of which are important to this project,” Flagg said.

Flagg is an expert on constitutional law and critical race theory. In addition to lecturing across the nation, she has written about white privilege and other topics involving race, law, culture and policy.

Flagg’s recent scholarship focuses on issues related to racial justice, subtle discrimination in the workplace and the resistance of majority groups to racial equality. In addition to numerous law review articles, she is the author of the 1997 book, “Was Blind, But Now I See: White Race Consciousness and the Law,” which examines race discrimination law and the role of “transparency,” or the propensity of white people to equate “whiteness” with “racelessness.”

Flagg is the second recipient of the Lehmann fellowship. The previous recipient — Pauline Kim, J.D., professor of law and now associate dean for faculty research and development — used the fellowship to continue her research on employment law in spring 2008.