Thomas Allen Harris, a professor of film and media studies and African American studies at Yale, has built his career around using storytelling as a tool for advocacy.
Michelle Cheon
Contributing Reporter
Wikimedia Commons
For decades, Black scientists have battled systemic barriers in STEM, yet their stories have often gone untold.
Yale professor Thomas Allen Harris has been awarded a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation for the production of “My Mother, The Scientist,” a documentary exploring the challenges faced by Black scientists, both historically and in the present day.
Harris, a professor of film and media studies and African American studies, has always used storytelling as a tool for advocacy. His awareness of racial inequities in academic spaces began during his undergraduate years at Harvard, where he was struck by the small number of Black students among a campus of over 18,000 students. Such experiences inspired his first documentary, “Crisis: Who Will Do Science” (1989), which combined his insights into racial disparities in academia with his filmmaking background.
“Why, after all of these years — the Civil Rights Movement, affirmative action, numerous studies and actions by governments, academia and corporations — have we made such little progress with regards to African American representation in the sciences?” Harris asks.
To challenge stereotypes about who belongs in STEM, “My Mother, The Scientist” will showcase the stories of Black scientists like Harris’ mother, chemistry professor Rudean Leinaeng, mathematician Debra Curtis and Dr. Shirley M. Malcolm, head of Education and Human Resources Programs at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The film is a product of collaboration with professionals like producer Lindsey Seïde, who helped refine the film through assembly cuts and script feedback.
“We’re visual creatures; filmmaking is a great way to show people a different perspective,” Seïde explained. “What’s really important about the documentary is that it tells the viewers that this is possible, that people of color have gone to historically racist or sexist fields of medicine and science … and they’ve used their abilities to forward that opportunity to more people of color.”
Students involved in the production also gained invaluable experience tackling themes of underrepresentation in STEM. For urban studies major Landon Bishop ’27, who is also a staff reporter at the News, the project revealed how personal and impactful documentaries can be.
“The really beautiful thing about documentaries is that they’re inherently very personal, and by that, they’re also inherently about people,” Bishop said. “You gain something by watching a documentary if you’re open to listening and thinking about how that affects you.”
Harris hopes the documentary will inspire broad change in STEM education and policy by elevating stories of Black scientists. By confronting stereotypes, he seeks to empower young students of color to see themselves in STEM fields.
“There are a myriad of Black scientists whose stories and contributions to society have been obscured,” Harris said. “We need to share these stories to fight ‘stereotype threat’ and empower Black students to feel they have a place in science.”
In addition to the film, the national outreach campaign Scientists in the Family aims to address systemic inequities with a two-pronged approach. First, Harris seeks to amplify visibility for Black scientists, noting research in which more than half of surveyed Black Americans believed greater representation of Black role models in STEM would inspire young Black students to pursue similar careers.
Second, the campaign emphasizes the need for culturally responsive teaching, which accounts for the unique social, historical and racialized experiences of Black students. Harris stresses that meaningful change in STEM education requires directly addressing these contextual factors to make the field more inclusive and equitable.
“My Mom, The Scientist” will be shown theatrically, broadcast nationally on PBS, and streamed online in 2025.
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