Dennis

Kimya Nuru Dennis

Sociologist and Criminologist, Community College of Baltimore County
Chapter Member: Maryland-Washington, D.C. SSN
Areas of Expertise:

Connect with Kimya

(443) 529-9935
Professional Website

About Kimya

Dr. Dennis's work centers on health, education, and economics. Emphasis is placed on mental health, suicide, substance use, epilepsy, community-patient advocacy, law enforcement mental health training, and permanent childfree-by-choice; developing school curriculum and materials with families and communities; and job skills, workforce development, economic development, and wealth building. Before moving to Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Dennis lived in North Carolina for 17 years, where she earned her doctorate and served as an Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminal Studies at Salem College in Winston-Salem, NC, where she also created and coordinated the Criminal Studies academic program.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | Member Spotlight | In the News | Publications

Contributions

The Complexities of Black Youth Suicide

Basic Facts Brief,

Debunking Myths about Mental Illness among Blacks

Basic Facts Brief,

No Jargon Podcast

Episode 145:
Suicide and Black America

In the News

Interviewed in "“Our Bodies… Our Choices?” - My So-Called Selfish Life," , May 7, 2022.
Quoted by in "Computer Tablets and Podcasts Becoming the New Normal in Prisons Nationwide," , October 2, 2021.
Quoted by in "Police Willing To Talk, Agree More Work Needs To Be Done," , July 19, 2021.
Interviewed in "The Breonna Taylor Investigation Is Over. Now What?," In Conversation, February 10, 2020.
Research discussed by Shakkira Harris, in "One Size Doesn’t Fit All: The Alarming Rates of Suicide in the Black Community,", September 10, 2019.
Quoted by in "Why Are So Many Black Kids Dying From Suicide?," , February 22, 2016.

Publications

"Relieving the Burden of Self-Reliance: Centering the Experiences of Black Women Graduate Students in Predominantly White Institutions" (with Kendra Jason and Sonyia Richardson). Journal of African American Women and Girls in Education 2, no. 3 (2022): 8-33.

Explores the educational experiences of Black women who recently obtained graduate degrees from Predominantly White Institutions. Provides concrete and practical strategies to systematically support Black women graduate students and relieve them of the burden of self-reliance.

"Black Women Academics: Artistic Expression Through Teaching, Research, and Activism" (with Kendra Jason). Association of Black Sociologists, Issues in Race & Society: An Interdisciplinary Global Journal 6 (2018).

Places academia within an artistic landscape and addresses how Black women junior faculty create artistry and artistic expression, handle perceived obstacles, and use their voices to enact change. 

"Black Male Suicide: Inward Expressions of Social Status and Status Frustration" in The Handbook of Research on Black Males, edited by Theodore Ransaw, Charles Gause, and Richard Majors, (Michigan State University Press, forthcoming).

Contributes to the study of relationships between socioeconomic status, sociopolitical status, directions of lethal violence, and suicide.