Research Expertise

• White racial socialization
• Antiracist parenting and family interventions
• Critical consciousness development
• Community-engaged and participatory research
• Human-centered intervention design
• Racial equity education
• Interracial families
• Child and family well-being
• Social work education

Background

Assistant Professor Sommer C. Blair joined the University of South Carolina College of Social Work in 2026. She is a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW-CP) whose clinical practice experience includes child welfare, foster care, and outpatient mental health services.

Dr. Blair's research examines how White individuals and families develop critical consciousness and engage in antiracist action across interpersonal, institutional, and community contexts. Her scholarship focuses on White racial socialization, antiracist parenting, and community-engaged intervention development. She is the founder and principal investigator of Parenting for Racial Equity (PRE), a grant-funded intervention designed to equip White caregivers with the knowledge and skills to raise critically conscious, antiracist children. Developed in partnership with Parenting While Black (PWB) and the Racial Equity Consciousness Institute (RECI), PRE integrates human-centered design and community-engaged research to translate evidence into practical tools for families and communities. PRE has been featured on NPR, adapted by community organizations and businesses, and now informs Dr. Blair's broader program of research on White racial socialization. Her scholarship has been published in journals including Journal of Social Work, Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, Families in Society, Social Work Education, and The Urban Review.

Dr. Blair earned her Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh, her Master of Social Work and Graduate Certificate in Drug and Addiction Studies from the University of South Carolina, and a Graduate Certificate in Community-Based Participatory Research and Practice from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. Her teaching emphasizes experiential learning, critical reflection, and preparing future social workers to advance equity through research and practice.