Kara Tucina Olidge

Kara Tucina Olidge, Ph.D. (January 10, New Orleans, Louisiana) is a scholar, arts and educational administrator and the Executive Director of the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University. The Amistad Research Center is the nation's oldest, largest and most comprehensive independent archive specializing in the history of African Americans and other ethnic minorities. Prior to this position, she was the Deputy Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a branch of the New York Public Library based in Harlem. The Schomburg is one of the world's leading research facilities dedicated to the history of the African diaspora. Prior to joining the Schomburg in 2012, Olidge was the Director of the Hetrick-Martin Institute, a nonprofit organization serving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in Newark, NJ. Olidge specializes in art and educational administration and leadership and has led educational institutions and community-based organizations.

Olidge's scholarly work has focused on critical cosmopolitanism, identity and cultural activism within communities of color. She has taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Medaille College, and the Arts Council of New Orleans' Urban Arts Training Program. She has been invited to conferences and panels to discuss her expertise on art and cultural activism, homophobia, racialized identities and curatorial work. She has curated art exhibits for emerging artists of color and given lectures on the intersection of arts and activism and arts-centered literacy.

Born in New Orleans, Olidge completed her education studies with a regents diploma and was a recipient of the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation "I Have a Dream" Scholarship. She graduated from Spelman College in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in Philosophy with a minor in Art History. During her time at Spelman, she began her educational work as a library principal assistant in Atlanta, Georgia at the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System where she assisted the community in enhancing literacy skills.

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