“Governing Through Surveillance: How Criminal Legal Policies and Processes Transform Black Neighborhoods”, 2025 BMRC Fellows Fall Presentation by Brandon Alston – Dec 3, 2025

The Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC) invites you to join us on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM CST for a virtual presentation in the 2025 Fellows Fall Speaker Series. Dr. Brandon Alston will share the results of his research on "Governing Through Surveillance: How Criminal Legal Policies and Processes Transform Black Neighborhoods."

Brandon Alston is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at The Ohio State University (OSU). Before joining OSU, Brandon completed his PhD in Sociology at Northwestern University, where he was a Doctoral Fellow at the American Bar Foundation and a Pre-doctoral Fellow with the Ford Foundation. His research examines how surveillance systems operate across poor neighborhoods, prisons, and parole programs. Law & Society Review and other outlets have published Brandon's research.

Discussant: Dr. Richard Benson is an Associate Professor of Black Radical Tradition in Education at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Benson received his PhD in Educational Policy Studies specializing in History of Education from the University of Illinois in 2010. As a historian of education, Benson specializes in the Black Freedom Movement, the Black Radical Tradition, and transnational social movements.

Join us online via Zoom: https://bit.ly/4nFrGYE