Renee Nicole Allen

Renee Nicole Allen is an Associate Professor of Law at the School of Law, St. John's University, where she joined the faculty in 2019. She also serves as the Faculty Director of the Center for Race and Law, a role she has held since 2022. Her teaching portfolio includes courses such as Professional Responsibility, Race and the Law, and Comparative Social Justice, among others.

Education:

• J.D., University of Florida Levin College of Law
• M.S., Educational Psychology, University of Tennessee
• B.A., English Literature, Mercer University

Research Focus: Professor Allen’s scholarship critically examines structural racism and academic terrorism in legal education, often drawing from afro-pessimism and colonial white supremacy frameworks. Her comparative work explores anti-Blackness in the United States and Italy, analyzing how colonial laws perpetuate racial hierarchies and limit Black rights through blood narratives and phenotypical characteristics.

Advising and Leadership: Since 2021, she has served as the faculty advisor to the Women’s Law Society and founded the Center for Race and Law, which launched in 2022. She actively participates in national legal conferences, including AALS and SALT, and was elected to the SALT Board of Governors.

Labs and Teams: As the founding director of the Center for Race and Law, she leads initiatives addressing racial justice and structural inequities in legal education.