INTERIM DIRECTOR OF THE PROGRAM:
Associate Professor Awam Amkpa

The Program in Africana Studies leading to an M.A. degree offers a broad interdisciplinary inquiry encompassing the histories, political and cultural movements, institutions, economies, and identities of people of African ancestry across the globe. Students have opportunities to concentrate in one area, compare and contrast between two or more areas, or simply take courses in all six of the following geographical areas: Africa, North America, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia-Pacific. The Master of Arts program prepares students for further research leading to the Ph.D. degree in history, literature, American studies, anthropology, political science, sociology, and cinema studies and for careers in education, cultural institutions, and public affairs.

Faculty

Awam Amkpa, Associate Professor, Social and Cultural Analysis (Africana Studies), Drama (Tisch School of the Arts); Director, Program in Africana Studies. Ph.D. 1993 (drama), Bristol; M.A. 1987 (drama), Ahmadu Bello; B.A. 1982 (dramatic arts), Obafemi Awolowo.
Theatre of the black Atlantic; performance traditions from Africa; modern British drama.

Renée Blake, Associate Professor, Linguistics, Social and Cultural Analysis (Africana Studies). Ph.D. 1997 (linguistics), M.A. 1993 (linguistics), B.S. 1987 (biology), Stanford.
Urban sociolinguistics; African American vernacular English; language and culture in the Caribbean.

J. Michael Dash, Professor, French, Social and Cultural Analysis (Africana Studies). Ph.D. 1973, B.A. 1969 (modern languages), West Indies (Mona).
Francophone Caribbean literature; comparative Caribbean literature; translation from French to English.

Ed Guerrero, Professor, Cinema Studies (Tisch School of the Arts), Social and Cultural Analysis (Africana Studies). Ph.D. 1989 (ethnic studies), California (Berkeley); M.F.A. 1972 (filmmaking), San Francisco Art Institute; B.A. 1972 (English), San Francisco State.
Black film criticism, history, and theory; cinematic aesthetics of “difference”;
critical economies of emergent cinemas; fantastic otherness in sci-fi and horror.

Robert Hinton, Clinical Associate Professor, Social and Cultural Analysis (Africana Studies). Ph.D. 1993, Yale; B.A. 1973, District of Columbia.
Agricultural labor in the African Atlantic.

Jennifer Morgan, Associate Professor, Social and Cultural Analysis (American Studies, Africana Studies), History. Ph.D. 1995 (history), Duke; B.A. 1986, Oberlin College.
Early African American history; comparative slavery; histories of racial ideology.

Deborah Willis, Professor, Photography and Imaging (Tisch School of the Arts), Social and Cultural Analysis (Africana Studies); University Professor. Ph.D. 2002, George Mason; M.A. 1986, CUNY; M.F.A. 1980, Pratt Institute; B.F.A 1975, Philadelphia College of Art.
Art history; museum studies; photography; African American photography and visual culture.

AFFILIATED FACULTY

Gerard L. Aching, Associate Professor, Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Literatures. Ph.D. 1991 (Romance studies), Cornell; B.A. 1982 (political science), California (Berkeley).
Nineteenth- and 20th-century Caribbean literatures and intellectual history; theories of modernism and modernity in Latin America; slavery and philosophy; visual regimes and politics in Caribbean popular cultures.

Thomas O. Beidelman, Professor, Anthropology. D.Phil. 1961, M.A. 1963,Oxford, M.A. 1956; B.A. 1953, Illinois.
Social anthropology; religion; colonial history; oral literature; Africa and ancient Greece.

Derrick Bell, Visiting Professor, Law (School of Law). LL.B. 1957, Pittsburgh; B.A. (1952), Duquesne.
Constitutional law; current constitutional issues.

Kamau Brathwaite, Professor, Comparative Literature, History. D.Phil. 1968, Sussex; B.A. 1953, Cambridge.
Caribbean literature, culture, and society.

Paulette Caldwell, Professor, Law (School of Law). J.D. 1969, B.S. 1966, Howard.
Critical race theory; employment discrimination law; race and gender in American law and culture.

Arlene Dávila, Professor, Anthropology, Social and Cultural Analysis (American Studies). Ph.D. 1996 (cultural anthropology), CUNY; M.A. 1990 (anthropology and museum studies), New York; B.A. 1987 (anthropology), Tufts.
Race and ethnicity; nationalism; media studies; political economy, globalization; the politics of museum and visual
representation; urban studies; consumption; Latinos in the U.S.

David Dent, Associate Professor, Journalism. M.S. 1982 (journalism), Columbia; B.A. 1981 (political science), Morehouse College.
African American culture, education, race, and the media; television reporting.

Manthia Diawara, Professor, Comparative Literature; University Professor; Director, Institute of African American Affairs. Ph.D. 1985 (comparative literature), Indiana; M.A. 1978 (literature), B.A. 1976 (literature), American.
Black American film; literary and cultural studies; black film in Africa and Europe.

Michael D. Dinwiddie, Professor, Gallatin School of Individualized Study. M.F.A. 1983, B.A. 1980, New York.
Cultural studies; African American theatre history; dramatic writing; filmmaking; ragtime music.

Troy Duster, Professor, Sociology; Silver Professor. Ph.D. 1962, Northwestern; M.A. 1959, California (Los Angeles); B.A. 1957, Northwestern.
Sociology of science; sociology of knowledge; deviance and control; sociology of law; race and ethnicity; policy; deviance.

William Easterly, Professor, Economics. Ph.D. 1985 (economics), Massachusetts Institute of Technology; B.A. 1979 (economics), Bowling Green State.
Economic development; economic growth; African development; ethnic conflict; American race relations; foreign aid; international macroeconomics.

Ada Ferrer, Associate Professor, History. Ph.D. 1995, Michigan; M.A. 1988, Texas (Austin); B.A. 1984, Vassar College.
Latin America and the Caribbean; Cuba; nationalism and independence.

Michael Gomez, Professor, History, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. Ph.D. 1985 (African history), M.A. 1982 (African history), B.A. 1981 (U.S. history), Chicago.
African diaspora; Islam in West Africa; African American social movements; Islam in the Americas; Islamic Iberia; slavery, colonialism, liberation.

Adam Green, Associate Professor, Social and Cultural Analysis (American Studies), History. Ph.D. 1998 (history), Yale; B.A. 1985 (history), Chicago.
Modern U.S. history; African American history; urban history; comparative racial politics; cultural economy.

Phillip Brian Harper, Erich Maria Remarque Professor of Literature; Professor, English, Social and Cultural Analysis (American Studies); Chair, Department of Social and Cultural Analysis. Ph.D. 1988 (English), M.A. 1986, M.F.A. 1985 (creative writing), Cornell; B.A. 1981 (creative writing/literature), Michigan.
Modern and contemporary U.S. literary and cultural studies; African American literature and culture; gender and sexuality studies.

Martha Hodes, Associate Professor, History. Ph.D. 1991 (history), M.A. 1987 (history), Princeton; M.A. 1984 (religion), Harvard; B.A. 1980 (religion and political theory), Bowdoin College.
Nineteenth-century United States; transnational race; Civil War era.

Richard Hull, Professor, History. Ph.D. 1968, M.A. 1965 (African studies), M.A. 1954 (European history), Columbia.
Democratization in Africa; origins of segregation in South Africa.

Barbara Krauthamer, Assistant Professor, History. Ph.D. 1999, M.A. 1996, Princeton; M.A. 1994, Washington; B.A. 1989, Dartmouth College.
African American; U.S. South and borderlands; U.S. women.

Paule Marshall, Helen Gould Sheppard Professor of Literature and Culture; Professor, English. B.A. 1953, Brooklyn College (CUNY).
Creative writing.

Elizabeth McHenry, Associate Professor, English. Ph.D. 1993 (English), Stanford; B.A. 1987 (English), Columbia.
African American literature, culture, and intellectual history; 19th- and 20th-century United States literature; history of the book.

Pamela Newkirk, Associate Professor, Journalism. M.A. 2000 (journalism), Columbia;  B.A. 1983 (journalism),
New York.
Urban issues; politics; history of minorities in the media.

Yaw Nyarko, Professor, Economics. Ph.D. 1986 (economics), M.A. 1985 (economics), Cornell; B.A. 1982 (economics and mathematics), Ghana.
Game theory; human capital; economic growth

Jeffrey Sammons, Professor, History. Ph.D. 1982 (history), North Carolina (Chapel Hill); M.A. 1974 (history), Tufts; B.A. 1971 (history), Rutgers.
U.S. social and cultural history with research and teaching interests in African American history, military history, black autobiography, film history, and sports history.

Mary Schmidt-Campbell, Professor, Art and Public Policy; Chair, Department of Art and Public Policy; Dean, Tisch School of the Arts. Ph.D. (humanities), M.A. (history), Syracuse; B.A. (English), Swarthmore College.
John Singler, Professor, Linguistics; Chair, Department of Linguistics. Ph.D. 1984 (linguistics), M.A. 1979 (linguistics), California (Los Angeles); M.A. 1976 (African studies), London; B.A. 1969 (history), Dartmouth College.
Sociolinguistics; pidgins and creoles; phonology.

Robert P. Stam, Professor, Cinema Studies (Tisch School of the Arts). Ph.D. 1976 (comparative literature), California (Berkeley); M.A. 1966 (English literature), Indiana. Studied at Oxford, the Sorbonne, and Paris VIII (Vincennes).
Third World film; U.S. independent film; semiotics.

Clyde Taylor, Professor, Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Ph.D. 1968, Wayne State; M.A. 1959, B.A. 1953, Howard.
Politics of representation; vernacular modernisms; cinema and society; African American and African literature; cultural symbolism; African diaspora film and literature; cultural criticism; modernism and aesthetics.

Leonard Wantchekon, Professor, Politics. Ph.D. 1995 (economics), Northwestern; M.A. 1992 (economics), British Columbia; Baccalauréat série C 1977 (mathematics and physics), Benin.
Political economy, development; applied game theory; comparative politics; political methodology.

George Yúdice, Professor, Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Literatures, Program in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Ph.D. 1977 (Romance languages), Princeton; M.A. 1971 (Spanish), Illinois; B.A. 1970 (chemistry), Hunter College (CUNY).
Latin American avant-gardes; cultural studies; cultural policy studies.