Marc Robinson

2022 Mellon Emerging Faculty Leaders Award (press release | article) 

2021-22 Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, CSUSB

2022 Recognized by CSU-System in "Employee Profile" (link)

Marc Arsell Robinson (he/him/his) is an Associate Professor in the history department at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). He earned his PhD in American Studies from Washington State University in 2012. His research focuses on the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements in the Pacific Northwest. He came to CSUSB in 2018 and teaches courses on African American and US History. In addition to his faculty role at CSUSB, in fall 2022, he was the Visiting Fellow in Equity, Justice, and Inclusion at the University of Oregon’s Clark Honors College (announcement | article).

Robinson’s monograph, Washington State Rising: Black Power on Campus in the Pacific Northwest (2023), was published as part of the Black Power Series of New York University Press. The text re-positions debates about the Civil Rights Movement, placing the Pacific Northwest within that framework. It is the first monograph to uncover the inspiring activism and outstanding contributions of the Black Student Union in the state of Washington. This organization of intrepid college students spearheaded a number of racial injustice campaigns, including a Seattle-wide youth outreach program, a sit-in and occupation of the University of Washington president’s office, confrontations with law enforcement in rural Washington, and successful initiatives for Black Studies and other reforms in higher education. Moreover, the monograph expands knowledge of the black freedom struggle: complicating conventional narratives, chronologies, and geographies of 1960s black activism. Locating the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements in the Pacific Northwest adds new dimensions to existing scholarship and broadens our understanding of the period.

His has published two, single-author, scholarly articles: “The Black Campus Movement in the Evergreen State: The Black Student Union at the University of Washington and Washington State University, 1967-1969,” in the Pacific Northwest Quarterly 103:2 (Spring 2012): pp. 55-66, and “Black Student Unions to the Gang of Four: Interracial Alliances and Community Organizing from San Francisco to Seattle,” in California History, Vol. 98, No. 2 (Summer 2021), pp. 24–49. Also, Robinson co-authored an article on using primary sources in teaching: Hauck, Janet and Marc Robinson, “Of Primary Importance: Applying the New Literary Guidelines,” in Reference Services Review Vol. 46 No. 2, (Aug 2018), pp. 217-241.

He has contributed other essays and book reviews in platforms such as Blackpast.org, The Western Journal of Black Studies, The Journal of Black Studies, The Journal of African American History, and Race in American Television: Voices and Visions That Shaped a Nation.

Before CSUSB, Robinson was Visiting Assistant Professor of History and Ethnic Studies at Whitworth University from 2016 to 2018, where he was bestowed with the 2017 Provost’s Junior Faculty Award for outstanding teaching and service. Prior to that, he was an Instructor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender, and Race Studies at Washington State University, and was also a diversity affairs administrator. Robinson was born and raised in Seattle, WA.

RECENT SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS (2023-2024)

University of Washington Seattle, Washington State University Pullman, Gonzaga University, Whitworth University, University of Tennessee, California State University San Bernardino, Museum of History and Industry (Seattle, WA), University of Oregon, Museum of Natural and Cultural History (Eugene, OR), and Seattle Public Library and Seattle Housing Authority.

MEDIA APPEARANCES

2024

Hausmann, Stephen, “Marc Arsell Robinson, Washington State Rising, Black Power on Campus in the Pacific Northwest: An Interview with Marc Arsell Robinson,” New Books Network, February 2, 2024, https://newbooksnetwork.com/washington-state-rising

Leinani Lucas, “Unearthing the Hidden Histories of Washington’s Black Power Movement,” Real Change, February 28, 2024, https://www.realchangenews.org/news/2024/02/28/unearthing-hidden-histories-washington-s-black-power-movement

Marian Mohamed, “’Juneteenth Isn’t Just an Independence Day for Black People’: A Look Behind the Holiday,” Real Change, June 19, 2024. https://www.realchangenews.org/news/2024/06/19/juneteenth-isnt-just-independence-day-black-people-look-behind-holiday

Adam Willems, “Q&A with Marc Arsell Robinson,” South Seattle Emerald, July 17, 2024, https://southseattleemerald.com/2024/07/17/qa-with-marc-arsell-robinson/ 

“Cal State San Bernardino Professor Participates in Black Male Educators Talk Program,” San Bernardino Sun, August 2, 2024, https://www.sbsun.com/2024/08/02/cal-state-san-bernardino-professor-participates-in-black-male-educators-talk-program/?clearUserState=true

2023

“BHM: Black History Parade, Campus Events,” Precinct Reporter News, February 2, 2023, https://precinctreporter.com/2023/02/02/bhm-black-history-parade-campus-events/.

“Black Students In Washington State Played Key Role in the Civil Rights Movement, New Book States,” The Conversation, April 21, 2023, https://theconversation.com/black-students-in-washington-state-played-key-role-in-the-civil-rights-movement-new-book-states-202907

Jones, Booker, “Washington State University Students Were Extremely Important to Civil Rights Activists,” Black Enterprise, April 23, 2023, https://www.blackenterprise.com/blacks-students-at-washington-state-university-were-important-to-activists-in-the-fight-for-civil-rights/

Denkmann, Libby and Alec Cowan, “From Civil Rights to Campus Change: Black Student Activism in Washington State,” KUOW, Seattle Public Radio, NPR July 18, 2023, https://www.kuow.org/stories/from-civil-rights-to-campus-change-the-resilient-legacy-of-black-student-activism-in-washington-state

Hollingsworth, Brandon, “New Book Recounts 1960s Fight for Black Acceptance at WSU,” Spokane Public Radio, NPR, August 17, 2023, https://www.spokanepublicradio.org/regional-news/2023-08-17/new-book-recounts-1960s-fight-for-black-acceptance-at-wsu

Janovich, Adriana, “Review of Washington State Rising: Black Power on Campus in the Pacific Northwest,” Washington State Magazine, Winter 2023, https://magazine.wsu.edu/2023/10/27/washington-state-rising-black-power-on-campus-in-the-pacific-northwest/

2022 - 2020

Romaine Washington, “Project Aims to Preserve Black history in Inland Empire,” San Bernardino Sun, February 5, 2022, https://www.sbsun.com/2022/02/05/project-aims-to-preserve-black-history-in-inland-empire/amp/.

Angela Ross, “Bridges That Carried Us Over Project,” SoCal Voices, February 17, 2022, https://www.socalvoices.com/bridge-that-carried-us-over-marc-robinson/.

Elizabeth Yost, “Equity, Justice and Inclusion Fellow Febuts CHC Class on Black Panthers,” Clark Honors College Newsletter, October 11, 2022, https://honors.uoregon.edu/news/2022/10/marc-robinson-visiting-fellow

Lillian Vasquz, “CSUSB To Host Virtual ‘Route 66 Women’ Event,” KVCR News, NPR, March 8, 2021, https://www.kvcrnews.org/community-involvement/2021-03-08/csusb-to-host-virtual-route-66-women-event#stream/0

Breanna Reeves, “The Bridges that Carried Us Over,” The IE Voice, September 12, 2021, https://theievoice.com/the-bridges-that-carried-us-over/

“Policing in Black Communities,” NBC Palm Springs, June 24-26, 2020, https://www.csusb.edu/inside/article/531297/csusb-dean-and-faculty-interviewed-nbc-palm-springs-policing-black. 

Nikki Brueggman, "Blackface is More Complex Than Rose and Blanche's Mud Mask," Byrdie, August 7, 2020

Click HERE for continuing CSUSB News coverage of Dr. Robinson 

Other duties include:

• Co-Advisor, History Club & Phi Alpha Theta, National History Honors Society, CSUSB
• Member, Planning Committee, Bridges that Carried Us Over Project
• Member, Black Faculty, Staff, and Student Association, CSUSB
• Interim Coordinator, Black Scholars Program, fall 2023