Brandon Terry

Brandon Terry is the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and co-director of the Institute on Policing, Incarceration, and Public Safety at the Hutchins Center. He holds affiliations with American Studies, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and the Center for History and Economics. Terry earned a PhD from Yale University, an MSc from the University of Oxford, and an AB from Harvard College. His research focuses on African American political thought, civil rights historiography, and contemporary racial politics. Key works include To Shape a New World (2018) and forthcoming books on Malcolm X and civil rights narratives. Terry’s awards span fellowships from the Ford Foundation, Mellon-Mays, and others. His current projects address historical narratives in Black political thought and the intersections of race, incarceration, and public safety.

Education:

• PhD (Political Science & African American Studies), Yale University, with distinction
• MSc (Political Theory Research), University of Oxford (Corpus Christi College)
• AB (Government & African/African American Studies), Harvard College, magna cum laude

Research emphasizes Black intellectual traditions, political philosophy, and the sociohistorical contexts of racial justice movements. His work bridges historical analysis with contemporary debates on policing, systemic racism, and radical thought. Articles span Political Theory, Modern Intellectual History, and New York Review of Books.

Awards include recognition for interdisciplinary scholarship and contributions to critical race theory. Upcoming projects include Home to Roost: Malcolm X Between Prophecy and Peril and an edited volume on 21st-century African American political thought.