Lucien Ferguson is a 2023-2025 Drinan Scholars Visiting Assistant Professor. Ferguson joins the distinguished line of scholars to have received the honor, including, most recently, Nicole Langston and Cosmas Emeziem.
Ferguson is a joint JD-PhD candidate at Pritzker School of Law/Northwestern University, where he currently studies law and political science. His research has largely focused on the history of race and caste in the United States. Ferguson’s dissertation, “The Spirit of Caste: Recasting the History of Civil Rights,” reframes the civil rights movement as protest against a socially restrictive caste system. The Drinan Scholars program prioritizes candidates whose research interests focus on issues of race and law.
A Chicago native, Ferguson worked in special education at Chicago Public Schools after graduating from Oberlin College, an experience he credits for galvanizing his interest in civil rights law to this day. While attending Northwestern/Pritzker, Ferguson was the recipient of a University Fellowship and the Franke Fellowship, awarded to “the most accomplished doctoral students pursuing an independent humanities research project.”
