Carl Suddler

Carl Suddler is an Associate Professor of History at Emory University, specializing in African American history, carceral state studies, and sport history. He holds a B.A. in History and Black American Studies from the University of Delaware and a Ph.D. in U.S. History from Indiana University. His research examines intersections of Black life, crime, sports, and policing in the 20th-century U.S. His award-winning book, Presumed Criminal (2019), analyzes Black youth criminalization in postwar New York.

His research also extends to the global carceral state, sports activism, and historical memory. Current projects include a second book, No Way Out: The Carceral Boundaries of Race and Sports, exploring policing in sports. Suddler has been featured in the Washington Post, Bleacher Report, and on CNN, NPR, and other outlets, advising athletes on social justice advocacy.

Awarded fellowships such as the James Weldon Johnson Postdoctoral Fellowship (2015–2016) and the Indiana University Diversity Dissertation Fellowship, Suddler teaches courses on African American urban history, sports history, and the carceral state. He has advised graduate students Andrew Aldridge and Tymesha-Elizabeth Kindell. His service includes roles at Emory’s James Weldon Johnson Institute, Florida Atlantic University’s Peace, Justice, and Human Rights Initiative, and peer reviewing for journals like Journal of American History.