Dr. Christopher Whitt

Dr. Christopher Whitt is an Associate Professor and the Chair in the Political Science department at Augustana College. He also is the Director of Augustana College’s Center for Inclusive Leadership and Equity. His Ph.D in Government & Politics (Political Science) was earned at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Whitt is Augustana’s expert on American government and politics, the Presidency, political behavior, minority politics, and gender politics. He is also a leader at the college in community, faculty, and overall workforce diversity efforts. In addition to his roles at the college he is also the Political Analyst for KWQC, the Quad Cities’ NBC television affiliate. He also provides political analysis and commentary on the Quad Cities’ NPR affiliate, WVIK. Over the years, Dr. Whitt has taken on the role of one of the most prominent voices of political analysis in the Quad Cities region and even provides analysis internationally for France24’s English broadcast.

A native of Baltimore, Maryland; Dr. Whitt has been living in the Quad Cities since 2007 when he started teaching at Augustana. He is one of the principle founders of the college’s Africana Studies program. His doctoral research was on the impact of the racial wealth gap on Black political participation and he continues to incorporate those themes into his work inside and outside the classroom. For years, he has served on the college’s Diversity Initiatives Committee. His courses include “Race, Wealth and Inequality in American Politics,” “Women & Politics,” “Intro to American Government,” “The American Presidency,” “Parties and Politics,” among others.

On a national level Dr. Whitt serves on the Executive Leadership Council of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists working in part to foster political relationships and opening media/public-speaking opportunities for members. He has worked closely with both NAACP chapters in the Quad Cities region, the Greater Quad Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce and many other organizations and movements in the Quad Cities area. He is one of the organizers of the Quad Cities Empowerment Network, a rather newly formed organization inspired in part by the National Urban League with a centralized focus on the economic and political empowerment of the Quad Cities’ Black community. Along with civic and business leaders from the Quad Cities Region, Dr. Whitt has become a leader on lobbying trips to state capitals as well as Washington, DC and now serves on the QC Chamber’s Business Advisory Council. Over the past few years he has served on the Q2030 Region Vision’s Steering Committee and is currently is a Loaned Expert working to refine the plan.

For his work in the classroom and in the community Dr. Whitt has been awarded some very impressive honors in as the National Conference of Black Political Scientists’ “2013 Teacher of the Year,” The Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce’s “2013 Leaders Under 40,” and the Rock Island, Illinois “2014 Citizen of the Year in the Professional Category” among others. As a scholar-activist in the mold of his mentors at the University of Maryland, Dr. Ronald Walters and Dr. Linda Faye Williams; Dr. Whitt immerses himself in efforts to build stronger communities and a stronger nation through fighting for justice and educating the public on pressing political issues and political structures. His commitment to public scholarship and justice work shines through in his teaching, public-speaking, activism, scholarship, and other forms of service.