Nic John Ramos is a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in the Program on Race, Science, and Society and the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also an Assistant Professor of History, Africana Studies, and the Center for Science, Technology, and Society at Drexel University. Ramos received his PhD in American Studies and Ethnicity from the University of Southern California and his undergraduate degrees in Asian American Studies and Political Science from the University of California at Irvine.
His work brings together discourses of feminist, queer, and disability studies with political economy, Africana Studies, and Latino/a studies to investigate the history of King-Drew Medical Center, an iconic public hospital built in Los Angeles after the 1965 Watts Riots. Originally conceived as a vehicle for black medical and economic inclusion, King-Drew piloted a slew of new health institutions -- academic medical centers, comprehensive health clinics, community mental health centers, emergency rooms, and medically underserved areas. Ramos demonstrates, however, that local city and medical authorities became complicit in building of new “non-medical” institutions such as a modern skid row, expanded prisons, and enlarged police forces to accommodate Los Angeles’ changing global landscape.
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