Darnell Hunt is Chair of the Department of Sociology at UCLA, Director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, and Professor of Sociology and African American Studies. Dr. Hunt has written extensively on race and media, including four books and numerous book chapters and articles. Most recently, he co-edited (with Ana-Christina Ramon) Black Los Angeles: American Dreams and Racial Realities (New York University Press, 2010), culminating an eight-year Bunche Center study of the past, present, and future of black life in Los Angeles. As director of the Bunche Center, he is principal investigator of a major, ongoing study of diversity patterns and best practices in the Hollywood entertainment industry. In 2009, he was one of eight individuals in “Academia” named to Ebony magazine’s “Power 150” list.
Prior to his positions at UCLA, Dr. Hunt chaired the Department of Sociology at the University of Southern California (USC). He preceded his academic career by working in the media (for NBC) and as a media researcher for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ 1993 hearings on diversity in Hollywood.
Dr. Hunt is a sought-after consultant to the Hollywood entertainment industry. He is author (with Dr. Ana-Christina Ramon) of the Bunche Center’s 2014, 2015, and 2016 Hollywood Diversity Reports. He is also author of The Hollywood Writers Report, issued by the Writers Guild of America in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013, and 2015 and author of The African American Television Report, released by the Screen Actors Guild in June of 2000. He also has served as a consultant to television networks on the issue of diversity and as a script consultant for television shows committed to sensitive portrayals of race and ethnicity.
darnellhunt 