B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
J.D., Howard University School of Law (Cum Lade)

Ciji Dodds’ scholarship exposes hidden structures within the law and how they sustain domestic and international systems of white supremacy. Specifically, she interrogates the degree to which the law retains vestiges of slavery, colonialism, and imperialism.  Thus, her scholarship is grounded in race and the law, constitutional law, criminal law, and legal history. Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, Ciji is currently engaging in three lines of scholarship. First, she is analyzing the form and function of the rule of law to ascertain the existence of pathological, racialized structural violence within the legal system. Second, Ciji is engaged in reconceptualizing the legal definition of violence to reimagine remedies for victims of violence. Third, she is systematically identifying badges and incidents of slavery.  Ciji’s scholarly objectives are to produce a body of work comprised of novel legal frameworks and to challenge the legal academy’s traditional understandings of scholarship.