Royel Johnson, USC Rossier associate professor, has been invited by The Studios of Key West, in partnership with La Maison Baldwin, to be a writer-in-residence in May 2025. La Maison Baldwin—which is dedicated to honoring the legacy of literary icon James Baldwin—nurtures creativity, fosters intellectual exchanges and amplifies diverse voices through residencies and conferences. The highly selective fellowship is offered to Black writers as part of the “24 Black Writers in 2024-2025” initiative. He joins fellow writers-in-residence Sonia Mae Brown, associate professor and chair of the Division of Arts and Humanities at Philander Smith University, and MaryLouise Patterson, co-author of Letters from Langston: From the Harlem Renaissance to the Red Scare and Beyond.
Johnson is a tenured faculty member with a joint appointment at USC Rossier and USC Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. He chairs the PhD in Education program at USC Rossier and is a faculty member in USC Pullias Center for Higher Education. Johnson is also director of the National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates in the USC Race and Equity Center, which is the nation’s leading tool for assessing campus racial climates.
The La Maison Baldwin residency is a pivotal creative opportunity for Johnson as he develops his next book. “James Baldwin is a literary legend, and it is an honor to receive this fellowship honoring his legacy,” Johnson said. “His gift for truth-telling deeply inspires my work and motivates me as I write my next book, The Truth about DEI in Higher Education, which I will develop during this residency.”
Johnson recently co-edited The Big Lie about Race in America’s Schools (Harvard Education Press, 2024), which brought together education scholars and educators to address the misleading narratives that are currently threatening both public education and racial justice. He also authored From Foster Care to College (Teachers College Press, 2024), which sheds light on the often-overlooked journeys of youth in the foster care system.
“I’m particularly excited to be in Key West because its history and motto, ‘One Human Family,’ stand in powerful contrast to the divisive political attacks on DEI I’m writing about,” Johnson added. “I’m deeply grateful to The Studios of Key West for hosting me.”
Royel M. Johnson, PhD
- Associate Professor & Director
