Department of Africana Studies

Our Faculty

The Department’s rigorous undergraduate and graduate programs are designed and driven by one of the leading faculties in the discipline.

As mentors, instructors, and creatives, the Department’s faculty convene students for critical studies of the intersections of class, gender, nation, race, and sexuality informed by a broad range of theoretical and methodological perspectives.

Geri Augusto
Gerard Visiting Associate Professor of International & Public Affairs
Director, Development Studies

Stephon Alexander
Professor, Department of Physics

Colin Channer
Assistant Professor, Department of Literary Arts

Lina M. Fruzzetti
Royce Family Professor in Teaching Excellence, Department of Anthropology

Olakunle George
Professor, Department of English 

Juliet Hooker
Professor, Department of Political Science 

Justin Izzo
Assistant Professor, Department of French Studies

Austin Jackson
Assistant Director, The Writing Center
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of English 

Patsy Lewis
Director, Developmental Studies Undergraduate Concentration
Visiting Professor, Department of International & Public Affairs

Glenn C. Loury
Merton P. Stoltz Professor, Department of Economics

Rolland Murray
Associate Professor, Department of English

Itohan Osayimwese
Associate Professor, History of Art and Architecture

Emily A. Owens
Assistant Professor, Department of History

Kevin Quashie
Professor, Department of English

Dannie C. Ritchie
Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Africana Studies 

Besenia Rodriguez
Senior Associate Dean for Curriculum 

Melvin Rogers
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science

Nicole Truesdell
Assistant VP for Campus Life and Senior Director, Institute for Transformative Practice

Andre Willis 
Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies

Matthew Shenoda
Professor of Literary Arts, Chair of Literary Arts

Jayna Brown
Professor of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies, Chair of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies

Chinua Achebe †
Professor Emeritus of Africana Studies

Dorothy Denniston †
Associate Professor Emerita of English and Africana Studies

Anani Dzidzienyo †
Professor Emeritus of Africana Studies

Ruth Simmons
President Emerita and Professor Comparative Literature and Africana Studies

John Edgar Wideman
Professor Emeritus, African American Literature