Archive Portal
Access annual reports, interviews, podcasts, keynotes, and media appearances.
Showing 41 of 41 media appearances
Dr. Ruby Mendenhall Receives Anthem Award for Documentary
Dr. Ruby Mendenhall has been recognized with a Silver Anthem Award from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for her documentary What's Left Behind? which explores the lasting effects of gun violence on families and communities.
Collective Trauma Summit 2025 — Featured Conference Host
Featured as a conference host alongside Thomas Hübl, Matthew Green, Robin Alfred, and Kim Rosen at this international online gathering exploring trauma-informed pathways for personal, ancestral, and collective healing.
What's Left Behind? Documentary - Illinois Innovation Summit
Screening and presentation of the documentary 'What's Left Behind?' about mothers who lost children to gun violence, at the Illinois Innovation Summit in Springfield, IL.
Families of Gun Violence Victims Speak Out
Interview with a mother of a young man killed who appears in the 'What's Left Behind?' documentary.
South Side High School Celebrates Opening of Student Center Wellness Space
Coverage of the opening of a student wellness space at a South Side high school, part of Dr. Mendenhall's Wellness Store initiative.
The Table is in the Community — Unapologetically Black Unicorns
Dr. Mendenhall discusses family roots, teaching at a predominantly white institution, creating a wellness store, youth community health workers, youth citizen/community scientists, and racial microaggressions.
What's Left Behind? Documentary Premiere
The official premiere of the documentary exploring the aftermath of gun violence through the voices of mothers, families, and communities affected by loss.
Project 2025: Department of Education — The Real Money Coach
Discussion on the impact of Project 2025's plans for the Department of Education on African-American communities.
From Philadelphia to Illinois and Beyond, a Quest to Engage Communities for Better Health
Feature on Dr. Mendenhall's community health engagement work and the Gold Foundation's recognition.
Ruby Mendenhall Named Poet Laureate for the City of Urbana, Illinois
Coverage of Dr. Mendenhall's appointment as Poet Laureate for the City of Urbana.
U of I Professor Ruby Mendenhall Pours Pain into Writing as Urbana's New Poet Laureate
Interview about her Poet Laureate appointment, poetry dedicated to mothers who have lost children to gun violence, creative writing as healing, and the poem 'Michelle Obama and Black Women as Alchemists.'
2024 Gold Humanism Summit: The Person in Front of You
Featured speaker at the 2024 Gold Humanism Summit in Atlanta. Spoke alongside Dr. Kathleen Reeves about how deeper community connections can improve medicine. Nearly 400 attendees.
U of I Dean Ruby Mendenhall is Preparing to Share a Lifetime of Writing as Urbana's Poet Laureate
Profile of Dr. Mendenhall as Urbana's new Poet Laureate, discussing her lifetime of writing and creative work.
Ruby Mendenhall Shows Up for Black Women and Youth
Profile exploring how Dr. Mendenhall's large-scale interview projects with Black mothers on Chicago's South Side fundamentally changed her worldview and research direction, leading her to integrate creative arts, genomics, and community engagement into a unified research program.
217 Today: Urbana's Poet Laureate Ruby Mendenhall
Deep-dive conversation about Dr. Mendenhall's appointment as Urbana's Poet Laureate, her life journey, and how poetry serves as both a personal healing practice and a tool for community engagement.
8 Questions with Dr. Ruby Mendenhall
In-depth Q&A about her path from studying poverty and housing mobility through the Gautreaux program to her current transdisciplinary work bridging genomics, poetry, and community health. She described how her research on the biological effects of structural violence on Black women led her to advocate for community-centered healing approaches.
Democratizing Health: A New Approach to Wellness
Dr. Mendenhall outlines her vision for democratizing health innovation and empowering communities to recognize their own traditions as sources of wellness and healing.
NAACP ACT-SO Program Discussion
Television appearance discussing the NAACP's Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) program and its impact on youth development.
Black Mothers Trapped in Unsafe Neighborhoods Signal the Stressful Health Toll of Gun Violence in the U.S.
Co-authored article drawing on interviews with 68 low-income single Black mothers on Chicago's South Side about how they cope with gun violence in their communities. Widely syndicated across Penn Capital-Star, UMBC, and other outlets.
AI Bias Panel Discussion
Joined a panel discussion on artificial intelligence bias and its implications for marginalized communities, drawing on her research in computational social science.
State of Racial Inequality in the U.S.
Discussed the current state of racial inequality and its economic dimensions, connecting structural violence research to economic policy.
Off the Shelf: Trauma, Wellness, and Community-Centered Solutions
Season 2, Episode 4 of 'Off the Shelf: Revolutionary Readings in Times of Crisis.' Dr. Mendenhall discusses the interconnection of racial oppression, trauma, and wellness, and community-centered solutions for building healthy, equitable communities.
Ruby Mendenhall in Conversation — COP26 Climate Conference (Day 9)
Discussion on climate justice, collective trauma, and community healing at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Gov. Pritzker Signs Health Care Equity Reform Bill
Covered the signing of sweeping health care equity reform legislation at Memorial Medical Center, discussing the importance of systemic healthcare reform.
Healthcare Equity Law: A Step Toward Justice
Discussed the need for healthcare equity legislation in Illinois and how policy can address the health disparities documented in her research.
Hearing and Healing the Mothers of Englewood
Feature-length profile exploring Dr. Mendenhall's work with mothers in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood — those who have lost children to gun violence and those who live in constant fear. Documents her transition from traditional sociology to a transdisciplinary approach combining genomics, history, and creative arts.
Third Reconstruction and Renaissance: Addressing Racism as a Health Crisis
Lecture on designing a third reconstruction that addresses racism as a public health crisis.
Collaborative, Reciprocal, & Redistributive Models of Research
Presentation on community-centered research methodologies that prioritize collaboration and reciprocity with the communities being studied.
New Health Care Law Aims To Stop Systemic Racism
Discussion of Illinois health care equity reform legislation and systemic racism in healthcare.
Citizen Scientist Journaling on COVID-19 — Community Voices
Dr. Mendenhall discusses her citizen scientist journaling project during the COVID-19 pandemic, exploring themes of resilience, faith, and policy.
Campus Conversation: Episode 30 — Ruby Mendenhall
Discussion about her research on Black mothers and gun violence, genomics and structural violence, and community engagement. Hosted by Julie Wurth of News-Gazette Media.
The Bias in Big Data
Video exploring bias in big data, featuring Dr. Mendenhall's perspective on how data analytics can both reveal and perpetuate inequality.
'Hunker Down' Stress Genes Boosted in Women Who Live in Violent Neighborhoods
Coverage of Dr. Mendenhall's groundbreaking transcriptomic research showing that women living in neighborhoods with high levels of violence exhibit elevated expression of stress-related genes — the biological signature of structural violence.
PEARC18 Keynote: Using Advanced Computing to Recover Black Women's Lost History
Keynote address on using supercomputers and latent Dirichlet allocation to analyze historical texts and recover lost narratives of Black women. Demonstrated how advanced computing can serve social justice research.
Keynote: Using Advanced Computing to Recover Black Women's Lost History
Keynote address at PEARC18 in Pittsburgh on using advanced computing for recovering Black women's lost history, exploring seamless creativity spanning computer science, social sciences, and humanities.
Geospatial Fellows Webinar with Andrew J. Greenlee
Discussion of geospatial research methods applied to community health and housing, exploring spatial dimensions of structural violence.
Hidden America: Health Effects of Structural Inequality and Violence
Lecture on the health effects of structural inequality and violence, part of Dr. Mendenhall's Hidden America research program.
Supercomputers to Uncover Lost Black Women's History
Interview with Dr. Mendenhall and Dr. Malaika McKee about their research using supercomputers to analyze historical texts and recover narratives of Black women that had been lost or marginalized in the historical record.
Rescuing Lost History: Using Big Data to Recover Black Women's Lived Experiences
Presentation at the HPC User Forum Meeting in Austin, Texas on the Rescuing Lost History project.
TEDxUIUC: DREAMing and Designing Spaces of Hope in a 'Hidden America'
TEDx talk on creating spaces of hope in underserved communities, referencing her work on the South Side of Chicago. Explores how community-driven design can transform neighborhoods affected by structural violence.
TEDxUIUC: Dreaming and Designing Spaces of Hope
Dr. Mendenhall's TEDxUIUC talk on the DREAM and De.SH(ie) projects, exploring how to design spaces of hope in communities affected by poverty and violence.