Full-time Faculty

Crystal S. Anderson

Instructor

Media studies, popular culture, popular music, visual culture, literature and audience and fan reception

LaNitra M Berger

Director

Associate Professor

Art of the African Diaspora, African-American art history, South African modern art, Intersections of the African and Jewish Diasporas, lynching photography, art and social activism, African and African American Studies, social justice and international education, women artists, racial injustice and public monuments and memorials

RaShall Brackney

Distinguished Visiting Professor of Practice

Dr. Brackney’s research examines the intersections of policing, race, systemic power, and social justice, with particular emphasis on how institutional practices within the criminal legal system disproportionately impact marginalized communities. Her work is grounded in critical criminology and informed by her practitioner experience, bridging theory and practice to explore the structural, cultural, and political dimensions of public safety, accountability, and democratic governance. She is especially interested in reimagining justice through interdisciplinary frameworks that draw from public policy, African and African American studies, and community-based strategies for reform.

Benedict Carton

Associate Professor

Africa, South Africa, transnational race, imperialism, cultural and oral history

Charles Chavis

Associate Professor

Rose M Cherubin

Associate Professor

Ancient philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, African American philosophy

Keith Clark

Distinguished University Professor

20th-Century African American Literature; African American Literary Masculinity Studies; Black LGBTQ+ Literature; African American Drama; Major Authors: James Baldwin, Ernest J. Gaines, Ann Petry

David Powers Corwin

Associate Professor

LGBTQ+ Studies; friendship studies; television studies; trauma rhetoric; Appalachian Studies; gender and sexuality in higher education; qualitative research methods

Spencer Crew

Robinson Professor

Rutledge M Dennis

Professor

Sociology of ideas, theoretical sociology, political sociology, race and ethnic studies, urban communities, the sociology of W.E.B. Du Bois

Alexandria Frisch

Assistant Professor

Judaic Studies, Second Temple Literature, Dead Sea Scrolls

Cynthia Fuchs

Professor

Documentary and fiction film, television, social media, war media, sports media, horror, action, and science fiction movies and TV.

Yevette Richards Jordan

Associate Professor

African American history, women's history, history of lynching, labor history, Pan-Africanism

Wendi N. Manuel-Scott

Professor

Critical Race Pedagogy, African American History, Black Feminist Theory, Critical University Studies, Black Queer History, Student Protest Movements, Critical Black Geographies, and Black Childhood History

Juton L Myers

Program Coordinator

Christy L Pichichero

Associate Professor

Early Modern, Enlightenment, Revolutionary History, Literature, Art, & Music of the French Empire; Theories, Histories, and Practices of African Diaspora; Slavery & its Afterlives; War & Culture; Critical Race & Mixed-Race Studies; Gender & Sexuality; Human Rights & Social Justice; Theater; Film; Digital Humanities; Medical History; History of Emotion; Women’s Writing & History; History of News & Information Networks; Critical Pedagogy; Inclusive Pedagogy & Curricular Design; Student, Faculty, Staff Wellbeing; Faculty, Graduate, Undergraduate Recruitment, Retention, & Mentoring; Academic and Community Activism, Academe & Politics.

Shauna Rigaud

Graduate Teaching Assistant, SOC Professional Development Co-Chair

Black History with a focus on Caribbean American experiences, Black feminism, youth development and community organizing

Suzanne E. Smith

Professor

African American, 20th century Cultural History, History of Death in America, American Popular Music, African American Religious History

Stefan Wheelock

Associate Professor

late eighteenth century/early nineteenth century black antislavery writing with a particular emphasis on slave narrative autobiography, early black polemic, and their contributions to Atlantic political and intellectual currencies