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Ato Quayson is the Jean G. and Morris M. Doyle Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professor of English and African and African American Studies at Stanford University, where he also chairs the Department of African and African American Studies. He previously held professorships at New York University (2017–2019) and the University of Toronto (2005–2017), where he was inaugural director of the Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies and became a University Professor (2016), the university's highest honor. His academic journey includes a B.A. (First Class Honors) in English and Arabic from the University of Ghana (1989) and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Cambridge (1995). He held a Junior Research Fellowship at Wolfson College, Oxford, and was a Reader in Commonwealth and Postcolonial Literature at Cambridge (1995–2005), concurrently directing the Centre for African Studies and serving as Pembroke College Fellow. Quayson’s research explores postcolonial literature, urban studies, disability studies, and cultural theory. His work bridges global and local contexts, with notable publications such as Oxford Street, Accra (Urban History Association Prize) and Tragedy and Postcolonial Literature (Warren-Brooks Prize). He co-edits the Cambridge History of Postcolonial Literature and chairs initiatives like Contours: The Cambridge Literary Studies Hour . His accolades include fellowships from the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (2006), the Royal Society of Canada (2013), the British Academy (2019), and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2023). He has also served as President of the African Studies Association (2019–2020). Quayson curates the YouTube channel Critic.Reading.Writing , discussing literature and urban studies, and teaches courses on global Black diaspora studies and Toni Morrison’s work. His current projects include Accra Chic: A Locational History of Fashion and studies on exile in African literature.

• African Literature
• Postcolonial Literature
• Shakespeare Studies
• +10 more

Dr. Robert W. Widell, Jr. (he/him) is an Associate Professor at the University of Rhode Island, where he chairs the Department of History and directs the Oral History Lab. His work focuses on African American history, late-20th-century U.S. political movements, and the American South. Ph.D., Emory University, 2007 M.A., Emory University, 2003 B.A., Duke University, 1996 His research examines the Black Freedom Struggle, including his book Birmingham and the Long Black Freedom Struggle (2013) and ongoing work on capital punishment and mass incarceration in Alabama during the 1970s–1980s via the case of Johnny “Imani” Harris. He also contributes to oral history methodologies. Dr. Widell’s publications span topics such as the Alabama Black Liberation Front and the transnational influence of the Black Panther Party, reflecting his interest in radical politics and community activism. He resides in Wakefield, Rhode Island, and balances academic life with parenting, running, and supporting the Liverpool Football Club and Auburn University Tigers.

• African American History
• Black Freedom Struggle
• Political Movements
• +6 more

Amber M. Neal-Stanley serves as Assistant Professor of Curriculum Studies in Purdue University's College of Education, where her scholarship interrogates Black educational experiences through critical qualitative frameworks and faith-based liberation traditions. Her work centers on structural inequity, historical resistance, and humanizing pedagogical approaches grounded in Black radical thought. Education: Ph.D. in Educational Theory and Practice, University of Georgia M.S.W. in Social Work, University of Georgia B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies, Bowling Green State University Research Focus: Dr. Neal-Stanley's research synthesizes Black education studies, critical qualitative inquiry, and faith as transformative praxis. She examines historical Black women teachers' abolitionist traditions, the Black Church's role in early childhood education, and digital humanities for recovering marginalized educational histories. Her scholarship consistently centers re membering Black radical traditions while confronting anti-Blackness in educational systems through humanizing frameworks. Publication Trends: Recent publications (2021-2025) reveal three dominant trajectories: (1) Historical analyses of Black women educators' spiritual resistance, (2) Conceptual models for leveraging religio-spiritual capital against anti-Blackness, and (3) Digital methodologies for reconstructing Black educational history. Her work increasingly integrates Black feminist thought with critical race theory to address contemporary educational struggles. Scientific Recognition: Purdue University College of Education Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award (2023-2024) Research Fellow, The Crossroads Project at Princeton University's Center for Culture, Society, and Religion (2024-2025) Academic Leadership: Teaching graduate courses in critical theory, qualitative methods, and Black educational history, Dr. Neal-Stanley prepares educators to dismantle structural inequity. Her Detroit Public Schools background and social work experience inform community-engaged scholarship that bridges historical analysis with contemporary activism, particularly through faith-based resistance frameworks.

• Black Education Studies
• Critical Qualitative Inquiry
• Faith and Education
• +5 more

Erik S McDuffie is an Associate Professor in the Department of African American Studies and History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also holds professorial appointments with the Program in Jewish Culture and Society, Center for African Studies (where he serves as Director), Lemann Center for Brazilian Studies, and Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. He earned his Ph.D. in History with a concentration in the African diaspora and U.S. history since 1865 from New York University, an M.A. in History from Temple University, and a B.A. in History from Hamilton College. Originally from Detroit, he is a sixth generation Midwesterner with family roots spanning the United States, Canada, and St. Kitts. Dr. McDuffie's scholarly work centers on the African diaspora, black feminism, black queer theory, black radicalism, and the significance of the Midwest in global Black freedom movements. His research reveals how Black political thought has developed through transnational connections between the American heartland and global liberation struggles, challenging conventional narratives that center only coastal urban centers. His publications demonstrate a consistent engagement with critical questions about Black political thought across time and space, with recent work focusing on Garveyism's global impact through the lens of the Midwest. This research trajectory shows increasing attention to transnational connections and the global dimensions of local Black political movements. Wesley-Logan Prize (2012) from the American Historical Association and ASALH Letitia Woods Brown Award (2011) from the Association of Black Women Historians Helen Corley Petit Award (2010) Outstanding Teaching Award in African American Studies (AY 2010-11) Outstanding Research Contribution in African American Studies Award (2017) National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship (2016) Richard and Margaret Romano Professional Scholar award (2014) American Council for Learned Societies fellowship (2017) Dr. McDuffie has secured significant research funding including major fellowships from the American Council for Learned Societies and National Endowment for the Humanities. As Director of the Center for African Studies, he leads initiatives promoting interdisciplinary research on Africa and the African diaspora. His current book project on Garveyism in the Diasporic Midwest represents a major contribution to understanding how Black political thought developed through connections between the American heartland and global liberation movements, drawing from original research across multiple continents.

• African diaspora
• Midwest studies
• black feminism
• +4 more

Circe Sturm is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin's College of Liberal Arts and affiliate faculty in Native American and Indigenous Studies. With 25 years of teaching experience spanning the University of Oklahoma and UT Austin, her scholarship examines race-sovereignty-citizenship intersections in Native and African American communities through settler colonial frameworks. Education: Ph.D., University of California, Davis Her research critically analyzes racial formation , tribal sovereignty , and indigenous identity politics across Native North America, Central America, and Europe. Fieldwork with Cherokee and Freedmen communities informs her exploration of dominance-resistance dynamics and subjectivity within colonial structures, consistently bridging academic theory and social justice praxis. Recent publications (2016-2023) demonstrate evolving engagement with ontological anthropology, Black-Indigenous relations, and demographic politics of race. Key themes include sovereignty recognition struggles, racial classification systems, and the material consequences of settler colonial logics across legal, demographic, and cultural domains. Author of award-winning books Blood Politics (2002) and Becoming Indian (2011), her work is widely cited by scholars, tribal citizens, legal professionals, and journalists. Public intellectual contributions include New York Times features and NPR interviews. Sturm has mentored generations of students through courses including Cultural Anthropology, Mapping Indigenous Austin, and Oral History of Native Texas. Her public lectures for entities like the US Forest Service and New York Public Library demonstrate deep commitment to community-engaged scholarship beyond academia.

• Race and Racism
• Sovereignty
• Citizenship
• +4 more

Dr. Erik S. Gellman is Professor of History at UNC Chapel Hill and serves as the 2024-2025 Honors Thesis Director. His scholarship examines working-class life, visual culture, and social movements in modern America, with particular focus on civil rights and urban history. He is author of 'Death Blow to Jim Crow' and 'Troublemakers: Chicago Freedom Struggles', and is currently working on projects about New Deal-era agribusiness and Black Chicago histories. Gellman teaches courses on the Great Depression, labor history, and urban development.

• Working-Class History
• Urban Social Movements
• Visual Culture Studies
• +1 more

Kellie Carter Jackson is the Michael and Denise Kellen '68 Associate Professor and Chair of Africana Studies at Wellesley College. She also serves as Historian-in-Residence for the Museum of African American History in Boston and as a commissioner for the Massachusetts Historical Commission representing the museum. Her research centers on the lived experiences of Black people with emphasis on slavery, abolitionism, the Civil War, political violence, Black women's history, and film. She examines how Black resistance—both nonviolent and violent—has shaped freedom struggles from the American Revolution to contemporary movements, with particular focus on Black women's contributions. SHEAR James H. Broussard Best First Book Prize Frederick Douglass Book Prize Finalist Museum of African American History Stone Book Award Finalist Washington Post's '13 Books to Read on African American History' As an advisor and public intellectual, she has mentored students in courses spanning Black women's history from Mumbet to Michelle Obama, American slavery through film, and Atlantic World slavery. Her expertise is frequently sought by major media outlets including The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, NPR, and broadcast networks like CNN, BBC, and PBS. She co-hosts the podcast 'This Day in Esoteric Political History' and hosts 'You Get a Podcast' (formerly 'Oprahdemics').

• Slavery
• Abolitionism
• Black Women's History
• +5 more

Thavolia Glymph is the Peabody Family Distinguished Professor of History and Law at Duke University, where she also serves as a Faculty Research Scholar at the Duke Population Research Institute (DUPRI). She is a prominent historian specializing in U.S. history, particularly focusing on slavery, emancipation, and the Civil War era with emphasis on Southern women's experiences. Glymph previously served as president of the American Historical Association (2024) and the Southern Historical Association (2019-2020). Ph.D. from Purdue University (1994) M.A. from Purdue University (1975) B.A. from Hampton University (1973) Professor Glymph's research centers on the intersection of gender, race, and power during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Her work particularly emphasizes the experiences of African American women, challenging traditional narratives that have centered white women's experiences. She examines how enslaved women navigated the plantation household as a "militarized space" and created resistance within the narrow confines allowed to them. Her scholarship reveals how black women's memories of past struggles informed their wartime rebellion and how the Civil War transformed domestic spaces and relationships. Her influential publications have reshaped understanding of women's roles in the Civil War, particularly highlighting how black women claimed freedom through refugee camps and other spaces of transition. Glymph's work demonstrates how the politics of black women in places like Gonzalez, Texas, emerged from antebellum antislavery ground, with their memories of past struggles concretely informing their wartime rebellion. Scientific Awards Albert J. Beveridge Award, American Historical Association Joan Kelly Memorial Prize, American Historical Association Julia Cherry Spruill Prize, Southern Association for Women Historians Tom Watson Brown Book Award 2021 John Nau Prize 2021 Civil War and Reconstruction Book Award 2021 Mary Nickliss Prize 2021 Darlene Clark Hine Award Philip Taft Book Prize (2009) Frederick Douglass Prize (Finalist, 2009) Jefferson Davis Award (Finalist, 2009) 2025 Award for Distinguished Service to Labor and Working-Class History 2025 Raymond Gavins Distinguished Faculty Award Professor Glymph has received significant research support for her work, including a National Institutes of Health grant for her book manuscript "African American Women and Children Refugees in the Civil War." She served as the 2023-24 Rogers Distinguished Fellow in Nineteenth Century American History at the Huntington Library. Glymph is an Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer and serves on several editorial boards for historical journals. Glymph has held prestigious visiting positions including the John Hope Franklin Visiting Professor of American Legal History at Duke Law School in 2015 and 2018. She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Society of American Historians, and the American Antiquarian Society, reflecting her significant contributions to the field of history.

• U.S. History
• Slavery
• Emancipation
• +7 more

David Justice is a Full-Time Temporary Lecturer in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core program, which is part of Baylor University's Honors College in Waco, Texas. He teaches interdisciplinary courses combining theology, religious studies, African American studies, Women and Gender studies, and philosophy, including Examined Life I, World of Rhetoric, and Social World. Dr. Justice earned his Ph.D. in Christian Theology from Saint Louis University, with a Graduate Minor in Women's and Gender Studies. He also holds an M.A. in Theological Ethics from Saint Louis University, an M.A. in Philosophy from the University of Missouri—St. Louis, and a B.A. in Philosophy, Cum Laude, from Greenville University. His research focuses on the political theology of Martin Luther King Jr., particularly exploring the fundamental transformation necessary to realize the Beloved Community. Drawing on King's rootedness in the Black church, Dr. Justice places King in conversation with feminist, womanist, and decolonial thought to recover the radical dimensions of King's theology and connect it with contemporary activism. His publications reveal a strong engagement with themes of justice, racial capitalism, prophetic tradition, and the Beloved Community concept. His work spans academic journals, online publications like Sightings and The Bias Magazine, book reviews in Reading Religion, and regular contributions to Conciliar Post from 2019-2022. His writing demonstrates consistent attention to connecting theological concepts with practical social justice concerns. Saint Louis University Dissertation Fellowship Religion and Public Life Graduate Fellowship Culturally Responsive Graduate Fellow SLU College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Thesis Award Henry Luce Foundation: Religion and Public Life Fellow Thulin Prize for Excellence in the Study of Religion Students' Choice 'Best Classes at GU' Dr. Justice has extensive teaching experience since 2013, with his Major Issues in Philosophy course named one of the Students' Choice 'Best Classes at GU.' He completed a year-long Culturally Responsive Teaching fellowship in 2020. His current work continues to explore how we can theorize a decolonized, holistic understanding of the Beloved Community and begin constructing that community in the present.

• Theology and Activism of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Decolonial and Liberatory Study of Religion
• African-American Studies
• +5 more

Crystal Eddins serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh's Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences. Her academic work centers on historical analysis of race, gender, and resistance within the African Diaspora, with particular emphasis on revolutionary movements and structural oppression. Her research interests include: Historical Sociology of Slavery and Resistance Racial Capitalism and Black Social Movements Gender Studies and Reproductive Justice The Haitian Revolution and Black Internationalism Memory Politics of Civil Rights Movements She investigates how enslaved communities employed marronage, ritual practices, and collective action to challenge oppressive systems, especially focusing on Black women's experiences. Analysis of her recent publications reveals three dominant trends: (1) the Haitian Revolution as foundational to Black revolutionary consciousness across the Atlantic World, (2) intersections of racial capitalism with gendered oppression in reproductive justice and land dispossession contexts, and (3) political transformations of historical memory regarding civil rights struggles. Her work consistently centers diasporic resistance while connecting historical patterns to contemporary social justice issues. While no specific scientific awards are documented in the source material, Dr. Eddins' extensive publication record in high-impact journals demonstrates significant scholarly contribution. Information regarding student advising, grant funding, or laboratory affiliations was not provided in the available texts.

• Historical Sociology
• Race and Ethnicity
• Gender Studies
• +5 more

Kai Parker is an Assistant Professor of African American Religious History at the University of Virginia , affiliated with the Department of Religious Studies. His research focuses on the intersection of religion, urban inequality, and social justice movements in African American history. Education: Ph.D., History, University of Chicago M.A., History, University of Chicago A.B., History and Africana Studies, Bowdoin College Research: Parker examines messianic and apocalyptic themes in Black faith, particularly how these traditions critique racial inequality and the concept of progress. His book project, "Faith without Hope: Black Protestants, Chicago, and the Critique of Progress, 1914-1968," explores how Black Protestants in Chicago reimagined redemption amid systemic antiblackness, urban crises, and the civil rights movement. Teaching: Courses include "Religion and the Black Freedom Struggle," "Black Religion and the Criminal Justice System," and "Religion, Race, and Difference in America." His pedagogy integrates theological analysis with interdisciplinary approaches from Black studies and phenomenology. Grants & Awards: None explicitly listed, though his research reflects sustained engagement with critical social and religious themes. Labs/Teams: Not specified in the text, but his work intersects with interdisciplinary initiatives on race, religion, and urban studies at UVA.

• African American Religious History
• Urban Inequality and Religion
• Gospel Music
• +7 more

Lisa G. Materson is a Professor in the History Department at the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on U.S. women’s history, African American history, and the intersection of political movements with colonialism and anti-colonial struggles. She holds a Ph.D. in History from UCLA, with earlier degrees from UCLA and the University of Texas at Austin. Her major works include For the Freedom of Her Race (2009), analyzing African American women’s political activism, and Radical Solidarity (2024), a biography of Ruth Reynolds and study of anti-colonial allyship in Puerto Rico’s independence movement. She co-edited The Oxford Handbook of American Women’s and Gender History (2018) and leads public history projects like the Empire Suffrage Syllabus. Materson’s awards include the Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer (2016-2024) and multiple research fellowships. She teaches courses on women’s history, gender studies, and the histories of colonialism and nationalism. Her work bridges academic scholarship with public engagement, emphasizing transnational and intersectional approaches to social justice movements.

• U.S. Women's History
• African American History
• U.S. Political History
• +4 more

Nikhil Pal Singh is a Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and History at New York University, serving as the Faculty Director of the NYU Prison Education Program and Chair of the Social and Cultural Analysis Department. He holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University (1995) and an A.B. in Social Studies from Harvard University (1987). His research focuses on race, empire, and 20th-century U.S. history, with particular emphasis on black radicalism, U.S. foreign policy, and the intersections of race and democracy. Education: Ph.D. in American Studies, Yale University (1995) A.B. in Social Studies, Harvard University (1987) Professor Singh's work bridges contemporary U.S. history and political theory. His acclaimed books include Black is a Country: Race and the Unfinished Struggle for Democracy (2004) and Race and America's Long War (2017). He co-founded and directed the NYU Prison Education Program from 2014 to 2023, securing millions in grants to expand access to higher education in carceral settings. His scholarly contributions span historical analysis, activism, and public intellectualism. Recent work includes Reconstructing Democracy (forthcoming 2023), a collection of essays on black intellectual history. He is a series editor at University of California Press and a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Awards: Best Book in US Civil Rights History (Organization of American Historians, 2004) His research emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches, addressing systemic racism, war's domestic and global impacts, and the legacies of activism. He has contributed to progressive media outlets such as Jacobin , the Nation , and the Intercept , and engages in public debates on anti-racism.

• Race and Democracy
• Black Radicalism
• US Foreign Policy
• +3 more

Brian Williams is an Assistant Professor of Geography in the Department of Geosciences at Mississippi State University. He holds affiliations with the African American Studies program and the Gulf Scholars Program, focusing on race, social inequalities, and their environmental impacts in the U.S. South and Latin America. Position: Assistant Professor, Geography University: Mississippi State University Affiliations: African American Studies, Gulf Scholars Program Research Interests include political ecology, environmental justice, food and health geography, and critical race studies. His work explores how systemic racism and socio-environmental injustices intersect, particularly in agrarian systems and carceral geographies. Publication Trends reflect his focus on agrarian racial regimes, pesticide politics, and Black geographies, with recent works addressing resilience in small-scale farming, plantationocene critiques, and racialized urban development. Collaborative efforts with scholars like Mansfield, Freshour, and Shelton highlight interdisciplinary approaches. Teaching Areas encompass Political Ecology, Cultural Geography, Human Geography, and regional courses on the U.S. South and Latin America. He co-edits the Southeastern Geographer , contributing to academic discourse on southern and Black geographic traditions.

• Political ecology
• Environmental justice
• Food justice
• +14 more

Derrick White is a Professor of History and African American and Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky. He holds affiliations with the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies and co-hosts the podcast 'The Black Athlete Podcast' with Louis Moore. His research focuses on modern Black history, sports history, and intellectual history, particularly examining black organizational life in the context of civil rights, political activism, and institutional development. White earned his Ph.D. in History from The Ohio State University. His work explores topics such as black college football during segregation, the role of the Institute of the Black World in the 1970s, and the intersection of sports with racial and social movements. His publications include Blood, Sweat, and Tears (2019), The Challenge of Blackness (2011), and co-edited Winning While Losing (2014). His articles span journals in history, African American studies, and sports sociology. White’s research highlights how marginalized communities built resilience through sports and intellectual networks. His recent work emphasizes the cultural and political legacies of Black athletes and institutions. He actively engages in public scholarship through podcasting and social media, fostering dialogue on race, history, and activism.

• Modern Black History
• Sports History
• Intellectual History
• +3 more