Dr. Kira Hudson Banks, Associate Professor of Psychology
Saint Louis University
Dr. Kira Hudson Banks is an Associate Professor in the department of psychology at Saint Louis University. Her research examines the experience of discrimination, its impact on mental health and intergroup relations. Her courses have ranged from Abnormal Psychology to the Psychology of Racism. She has published in American Psychological Association journals such as American Psychologist, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, and The Harvard Business Review and popular media outlets such as Huffington Post and The Atlantic.
Dr. Banks’ research program has two trajectories: 1) examining the experience of African Americans with discrimination, and mental health, and 2) diversity in higher education and intergroup relations. Related to the former, she explores the experience of discrimination and racial identity (how individuals integrate race into their understanding of who they are). The latter, which focuses on intergroup relations, is intricately linked with the first trajectory. In her earlier work on the experience of discrimination, she consistently offered as an implication the need for creating more hospitable environments. For example, on college campuses, it is essential that we not only support students of color but also educate White students about what it means to engage in a diverse environment. Therefore, Dr. Banks’ work attempts to minimize the deleterious affects of discrimination while simultaneously intervening to foster increased and improved intergroup interactions.
She served as a racial equity consultant for the Ferguson Commission and has continued as the Racial Equity Catalyst for Forward Through Ferguson. Dr. Banks has also consulted with schools, communities, institutions of higher education and corporations to improve diversity and inclusion efforts and engage people in productive dialogue and action.
She received her BA from Mount Holyoke College, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and her MA and PhD from the University of Michigan.