University of Illinois at Springfield

8/04 - current

Assistant Professor , African American Studies
Convener/Chair , African American Studies

James Madison University

1/99 – 5/2004

Assistant Professor , English (African American Literature)
Special Program Writing Instructor , African American Male Academy 1999, 2000, 2001,2002, 2003,2004

Western Illinois University

8/98 – 12/98

Assistant Professor , African American Studies

Harris-Stowe State Teacher's College

1/98 – 8/98

Adjunct Lecturer ; Education and English Departments

Saint Louis University (American Studies, Ph.D. program)

8/94-5/99

Minority Graduate Fellow, Competitive - teaching/research not required 8/95 – 5/98
Graduate Assistant, Teaching, research or administrative duties as assigned 8/94 – 5/95
Adjunct Lecturer, School for Professional Studies 1/97 – 5/98

University of California – Santa Cruz (UCSC)

10/87 – 6/93

Faculty Advisor/Lecturer, Oakes College instruction, advising, administration
Residential Preceptor, Merrill College programming advising, on-call 9/88 – 8/91
Lecturer , American Studies lecturing/instruction, 1-2 graduate TA's Spring 90 – 93
Lecturer , SAA/EOP Summer Bridge facilitation of one section, learning skills 1992

University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)

9/83 – 6/85

Minority Fellow , African American Studies Department 9/83-6/85
TA/Section Leader, Intro to Psychology [Psych 10], Freshman Summer Program, 5-8/84
Lead one section, curriculum/test development, writing instruction/feedback
Head Research Assistant, Civil Rights Project under Dr. H. Fairchild, 10/84 – 5/85
Data collection & entry, supervision of 6 RA's

University and Community Service

University of Illinois at Springfield

General Education Working Group
College Liberal Arts and Sciences, College Personnel Committee
Capital Scholars Steering Committee
Diversity Task Force
Faculty Advisor, Sankofa/Black Students Union
Guest speaker, ROAD, 10/12/04
We Have Known Rivers (panelist), Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, 10/14/04
Western Illinois University 's Creative Writers Society Fall 2004 visiting write

The Experience of a Black Writer: Culture, Language and Globalization 12/9/04

Coordinator/Contributor, “In Celebration of Black History Month” February 2005
Reader, Feishans- Edison Magnet School, 2/07/05
Rites of Passage: Lying in Popular Culture , Black History Month Brown-bag Speaker

Lincoln Land Community College , 2/10/05

James Madison University :

Steering Committee Member, Furious Flower Poetry Conference (2004)
Committee Member, General Education Cluster II. 4/99-current
Special Program Writing Instructor: African American Male Academy 1999-2003
Freshman Reading Program: Facilitator: Home, '00; Hope in the Unseen, 01, 02, Things They Carried 03 Conversations with Faculty: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
Focus Group Leader--Nguzo Saba CMISS 12/00
Judge, Annual Homecoming Stepshow, 1999, 2000
Direction & Production assistance* for Spring 99 Amen Corner *Emergency stand-in
Faculty Advisor 1] Choice JMU 2] The DJ Collective 3] Brothers of a New Direction 4]What the Deal.

Western Illinois University :

Production/direction of student ensemble production of African American literary expressions.
Afrocentricity in Contemporary Black Studies Scholarship (guest of Dr. Womack) 12/98
Educating African American Youth (Guest of Dr. Caroline) 10/98
Afrikanity in US Society (Guest of Dr. Welsh) 9/98

University Courses Taught

University of Illinois at Springfield

Independent Studies (AAS 499) [three students] The African American Novel. 8-10 contemporary novels
Overview of African American Studies (AAS 425)

An introduction to the discipline. Texts: Karenga; Hayes; and Urban League's State of Black America

Overview of African American Literature (AAS 429)

Primary text: Norton Anthology of African American Literature.
Equiano to present, a survey of the complex range of African American literary (and oral) expressions. Includes criticism/essays, autobiography, one novel, short story, folklore, music, sermons, speeches, poetry, and drama.

Black Women Writers (LSC 429)

Selected novels, short stories, poetry, and criticism by and/or about Black women writers. Including Bambara, Butler , Campbell, Christian, Clifton , McDowell, Morrison, Naylor, Alice Walker, S. A. Williams & others.

African American Popular Culture (LSC 430) [ Peoria campus]

Survey and analysis of significant media (film, popular fiction, comedy, TV, music, fashion, sports, etc) Texts: G. Dent/M. Wallace; B. Kitwana; G. Tate, plus selected readings

What is Power (CAP 226)

Team-taught Capital Scholars Program seminar. Texts: Andersen & Collins Race, Class and Gender ; Maasik & Solomon Signs of Life in the USA ; M. Freden Ideology ; M. Steger Globalization

Eastern Illinois University

Negritude to Afrocentricity (AAS 4100)

Departmental syllabus. Selected Black intellectual writings. Texts: M. Asante Kemet, Afrocentricty, & Knowledge ; Asante , et al, (Eds) Black Intellectual Heritage ; F. Fanon Wretched of the Earth .

James Madison University (Assistant Professor)

Honors Theses (ENG 495) [four students]
Independent Studies (ENG 499) [twelve students]
Black Women Writers (ENG 412J) Seminar.

Selected novels, short stories, poetry, and criticism by and/or about Black women writers. Including Bambara, Butler , Campbell, Christian, Clifton , McDowell, Morrison, Naylor, Alice Walker, S. A. Williams & others.

Psychological Perspectives of African American Literature (ENG 412J—seminar & 302P—lecture)

Used the theories of Erikson, Bronfenbrener, Maslow, Cross, Thomas, Jones, Parham, as a foundation to analyze selected works by Campbell, Naylor and Baldwin. Interdisciplinary, participatory.

Major American Writers: The Genius of James Baldwin (ENG 510—graduate level, ENG 410B) Seminar.

Offered two times. Selected novels, essays, plays, and poetry by Baldwin . A variety of criticism. Multimedia.

Major American Writers: Toni Morrison/Gloria Naylor (ENG 510—graduate level, ENG 410) Seminar.

Selected novels by these two masters and various criticism. Also Playing in the Dark .

Major American Writers: Alice Walker (ENG 410A) Seminar

Selected novels, short stories, poetry and essays by Alice Walker.

Major American Writers: James Baldwin/John A. Williams (ENG 410) Seminar.

Selected novels, essays and short stories by these two masters.

Crossing Boundaries: African American Science Fiction and Detective Fiction (ENG 360A) Seminar.

Surveys the works of Butler , Delany, Himes, Mosley, Neely, Wesley. Subtitled “Crossing boundaries” as texts and selected criticism were assessed to analyze whether or not (or how well) these authors/novels fit within the genres of science fiction and detective fiction, or within “the norms of African American fiction writing.”

Major Black Writers: Fiction (ENG 360A )— African American Fiction (ENG 361) Seminar, three sections.

Selected novels and short stories by Bambara, Naylor, Campbell, Margaret Walker, Reed, Charles Johnson, Morrison, Sherley Anne Williams, Baldwin , & others.

Major Black Writers: Poetry (ENG 360B)— African American Poetry (ENG 362) Seminar, offered four times.

An intensive exposure to contemporary African American poetry and poets. Furious Flower , Every Shut Eye Ain't 'Sleep plus selected readings, videos and audio recordings.

African American Experience (ENG 302A)

An interdisciplinary overview of African American essays and social thought. Primary texts were Turbulent Voyage, Black Women in White America , The Black Family (Staples) and Introduction to Black Studies , plus supplemental readings.

Harlem Renaissance (ENG 302H) Seminar. Multimedia.

An i nterdisciplinary survey of the literature, criticism, music and history of this pivotal era of African American expression. Texts: Lewis' Harlem Renaissance Reader , Hughes' Selected Poems , Their Eyes Were Watching God , plus selected readings.

Black Poetics (ENG 302P) Seminar.

An overview of African American cultural expressions with particular focus on recurrent imagery, symbols and popular culture. Afro-American Literary Study in the 1990s , Crossing the Danger Water, plus selected readings.

Survey of African American Literature (GENG 260) General Education course. Lecture/discussion.

Offered eight times. Multimedia. Primary text: Norton Anthology of African American Literature.
Equiano to present, a survey of the complex range of African American literary (and oral) expressions. Includes criticism/essays, autobiography, one novel, short story, folklore, music, sermons, speeches, poetry, and drama.

Survey of American Literature since 1865 (GENG 248) General Education course. Lecture/discussion.

Offered six times. Used Norton Anthology twice. Switched to the Heath Anthology b/c of its multicultural focus . A survey of U.S. writing, including criticism, poetry, drama, short stories and one novel.

Western Illinois University (Assistant Professor)

Psychology of Race and Education (AAS 475) Seminar.

Primary text: Jones' Black Psychology . Supplemented with a variety of autobiographical readings and theoretical essays or excerpts including Fanon, Freire, Kunjufu, Kawaida theory, Woodson among others.

Introduction to African American Studies (AAS 0100) General Education. Lecture/discussion. Two sections.

An interdisciplinary overview of African American essays and social thought. Primary texts were Turbulent Voyage, Black Women in White America , and Introduction to Black Studies , plus supplemental readings.

Harris-Stowe State Teacher's College (Adjunct Lecturer)

English/American Literature (Eng 0207) General Education. Seminar. Two sections.

Contemporary focus. Primary text chosen by department: Being and Becoming .

Introduction to Multicultural Education (Educ 0212) Seminar/practicum. Multimedia.

Designed to provide prospective teachers with exposure to multicultural theory as well as specific content. Students developed lesson plans on topical areas: African American, Latino/a Chicano/a, Asian/Pacific Islander American, and Native American culture, history and contributions to the U.S. multicultural milieu.

Introduction to Black Studies (Educ 0100) General Education. Seminar.

Departmental syllabus. Actually a course on African American history. Primary text: From Slavery to Freedom .

Saint Louis University , School for Professional Studies (Adjunct Lecturer)

Psychology of Oppression (Psych 433) Seminar. Three sections

Various approaches to ”stigma,” learned helplessness, self-esteem and identity issues, and Black psychology.

African American History & Culture (HSA 493)

Primary texts: From Slavery to Freedom, Souls of Black Folk, Jubilee, The Chaneysville Incident.

Introduction to African American Studies (AAMA-200)

An interdisciplinary overview of the field of African American Studies. Primary texts were Turbulent Voyage, Black Women in White America , and Introduction to Black Studies , plus supplemental readings.

University of California Santa Cruz (Lecturer)

Values and Change in a Diverse Society , (Oakes 80) Writing-intensive seminar.

Team taught. Course reader. Using multiculturalism as a unifying theme, students produced a variety of essays, epistles and a research paper.

The Afro-American Experience , (American Studies 25A or 80A) Major lecture, 80-100 students.

Four sections. An interdisciplinary overview of African American essays and social thought. Primary texts were Black Women in White America , Introduction to Black Studies , Tar Baby , The Chaneysville Incident, and There is a River.

Independent Studies including: Senior Theses [eight students]

African Tutorial Project (ATP); Ceremonies of Dark Old Men; College Success Seminar; ISAKE: Black Performing Arts Workshop; The Port Chicago Incident; Theory, Practice, & Prod of Gospel Music (African Gospel Ensemble); T P & P of Black Arts (Celebration)

UCSC Student Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Program , (Core Instructor)

Writing instruction designed to prepare special admit/at risk SAA/EOP students in the Summer Bridge Program for college level writing and critical thinking.

University of California Los Angeles (Teaching Assistant)

Introduction to Psychology [Psych 10], Freshman Summer Program 1984. Full responsibility for discussion section.

A survey of general psychological theories and principles. Primary text: Psychology and Life .

Educational and Research Projects

PROJECT W.I.T. [a ONELOVE Production] 6/03—ongoing. Curricular supplement for critical thinking, verbal, research and test-taking skills. This project is currently being piloted in various sites in Virginia .

The Denson Model [Consultant: Black Pages Foundation, St. Louis , MO ] 6/93—10/93. 112 page unpublished document. Reviewed multicultural education literature and diverse pedagogical practices. Development of a theory to demonstrate efficacy of linking individual teachers to the same students over long-term periods involving "proprietary concern."

Conference Presentations and Appearances

Color Me Blue: Ralph Ellison's Non-fiction and Invisible Man . Ralph Ellison Symposium, TSU April 2005

Dare to Dream: Civil Rights Movement as reflected in John A. Williams' Fiction. SCAASI, Febuary 2005

Excerpted one chapter in progress from a larger monograph on Williams

Adinkra Poetry in the New World.

Furious Flower Poetry Conference, September 2004

Surveyed US and Caribbean Black poetry for elements of the West African Adinkra form.

An Afrocentric Literary Theory NCBS National Conference March 2004

Excerpted parts of Emerging Afrikan Survivals dealing with a model of Afrocentric literary theory.

Strangers in the Temples of Our Familiar: Notions of Exile in Alice Walker & Paule Marshall

Exile Conference JMU 10/25/02

Excerpted from a longer project that analyzes how Paule Marshall and Alice Walker treat issues of exile and displacement, the effects on identity, and reference group orientation within and across the diaspora.

Literature and Psychology: A Pedagogical Perspective

AIS Conference, Roanoke , VA 10/4/01

Discussed the challenges associated with a Black studies scholar and a psychologist co-teaching a course cross- listed with Psychology and English Departments. The course, Psychological Perspectives on African American Literature, was very well received by students from both majors. But both sets came into the class lacking specific disciplinary skills or knowledge.

Jacob's Moral Dilemma

AIS Conference, Roanoke , VA 10/4/01

John A. Williams' little-known novel Jacob's Ladder presents the dilemma of an African American raised in Africa who must make a decision between his responsibilities as a military officer, his status as a Black man in a White world and his friendships with the Africans who were his extended family.

John A. Williams' Heroes

SCAASI Conference, Greensboro NC 2/23/01

An analysis of four of Williams' novels: The Man Who Cried I Am; Captain Blackman; Sons of Darkness, Sons of Light; and Jacob's Ladder. Each novel has a character who revises traditional representations of the heroic type.

Afrocentric Literary Criticism

Black Writers Conference, Jackson State University 10/28/00

Presents an overview of my theory that proposes extended family and storytelling, ancestral communion and expanded awareness (“magic realism”), and Afrikan consciousness as cultural markers that are emerging in contemporary African American literature.

Diversity in the Workplace Table Moderator

JMU, 9/22/00

Niyi Osundare Through an African American Lens

ALA Lawrence KS 4/15/00

Proposes a cultural and poetic kinship with West African poet Niyi Osundare and compares his work with African American poet Haki Madhubuti (Don L. Lee.) Functioned as a tribute to Osundare and he was in the audience. Featured an impromptu percussion session during introductory poem “Akoben.”

Transformative Poetry Madison Conference-- Panel Moderator : JMU March 2000

Nationalism in Baldwin's Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone

Howard University 2/11/00

Assesses the Black Nationalism present in Baldwin 's novel. In the light of Baldwin 's associations with the Civil Rights Movement, this raises some questions about the origins of other texts like Evidence of Things Not Seen .

The Black Underbelly of Blues Poetry

CLA Fayetteville , NC 4/17/99

Traces the musical heritage of blues poetry through the sixties and seventies. Uses Henderson 's concept of "Black Linguistic Elegance" in conjunction with traditional toasts, HipHop music, H. Rap Brown, and Funkadelic.

Ancestral Communion in Contemporary African American Literature

SCAASI Houston TX 2/18/99

Traces the motif of contemporary African American characters that find, follow or revisit their ancestors' lives and in some manner replicate them in their own lives. Surveys ten novels from 1972 to 1991.

Rites of Passage in Mules and Men and Mudbone

SCLA Conference (9/97) UGA, Athens GA
Grad Student Conference (5/97), Simmons College , Boston MA
Multicultural Literature Conference (4/19/96) San Antonio College , TX

Discusses the pattern of “ritual lying” described by Sterling Brown (among others) in such diverse texts as Invisible Man; Gorilla, My Love; Mules and Men; and Richard Pryor's autobiographical alter ego Mudbone.

Black Studies in the Predominately White University : Afro-centricity in the “Multicultural” Classroom

NCBS National Conference, Oakland CA June 1-5, 1995

Assesses the problem of a multiculturalism that threatens to undermine Afrocentrism while professing to be “for” diversity. The result looks more like the “mainstream,” is less threatening, and moves both ideas and people out of academia because of competition for limited resources. Divide and conquer? Institutional sabotage?

90's Women: Superwomen or Set Up?

NACADA Pacific Region Conference S.F. CA 4/16-17/93

The majority of students requesting approval for excessive units are female. While this may represent an aggressive motivation, it also sets these women up for failure as grades, health and general well being suffer when they have bitten off more than they can chew. As advisors and administrators, what are our responsibilities to this population?

Invited Lectures and Workshops

Rites of Passage: Lying in Popular Culture , Black History Month Brown-bag Speaker LLCC 2/10/05
The Experience of a Black Writer: Culture, Language and Globalization WIU Creative Writers Society 12/9/04
Poetry reading and lecture AME Zion Church , Nelson County VA February 15, 2004
Why College should be in your Future Harrisonburg Young Achievers December, 2003
The Who Am I ? Pie Guest lecture/workshop for Sociology course “Race and Ethnicity” November 18, 2003
The Who Am I ? Pie Workshop with Potomac Dormitory (JMU) April, 2003
Emergent Myths in Contemporary African American Literature JMU Honors Brown Bag Series 3/03
Codes, Sign, & Signals: Communication Patterns in the Underground Railroad Blue Ridge 2/21/2002
Daddy, Read Me a Story—Read Your Own: Literacy & Parenting Shiloh Optimist Club JMU 12/1/01
An Everyday Success African American Education Conference Blue Ridge College 4/20/2001
Harlem Renaissance Poets Blue Ridge College 2/13/01
A New Set of Eyes: Diversity & creativity in Prison Education Virginia Prison Educators 6/5/00
Toastmasters Special Awards Ceremony -- Staunton Correctional Facility May/2000
Black History Month Lecture & Poetry Reading -- Staunton Correctional Facility 2/2000
Black History is Everyone's History Keynote--SLU Women's Commission Luncheon 2/17/98
Folk Ways, Folk Wisdom Laney College ( Oakland , CA ) October 1998
Sheroes & the Metaphorical Other (Panelist) SLU Women's Commission Luncheon 2/19/97
An Everyday Success National Council Negro Women-St. Louis Chapter Black History Month

Lecture, 2/15/97 St. Louis Juvenile Detention Center

Four Paradigms in African American Cultural Phenomena Laney College March 1996
The Who Am I ? Pie & Cultural Pursuit Multicultural Education (guest of Dr. Beard) SLU, Fall 1995
St. Louis Afro-Centric Education Summit , Panelist, Community Forum, Black Expo 8/19/95
Afro-centric Education in Real Life & Beyond School , Panelist, University City Library, 8/22/94
Afro-centric Education's Relationship to Desegregation Issues , Panelist, Black Expo 8/20/94
The Chaneysville Incident Black Books/Black Writers Series, Walnut Park Library 4/2/94
MLK and His Legacy: How It Affects You Today Centennial Church , St. Louis , 1/16/94
Aspects of African & Afro-American Oral Tradition Santa Cruz County Recreation Dept 8/14 /93
Poetry & Politics: Signifying or Solutions? Lecture, Afro-Am Dept CSU Chico 3/26/93
Civil Rights Movement: It's Effects On You Today NAACP San Jose Youth Chapter 3/13/93
Kwanzaa: “Kujichagulia” Televised News Feature 12/27/92
Rap Music & Historical Aspects of African Oral Tradition Berkeley High School , CA 3/12/92
Cross-generational influences of Black Oral Traditions Temple Beth El, Aptos , CA 2/27/92

Lectures, Presentations, & Workshops

We Have Known Rivers (panelist), Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, 10/14/04
Emergent Myths in Contemporary African American Literature JMU English Dept Research Group 11/02
John Williams' Heroes James Madison University English Dept Research Group 7/2/02
The Role of Creativity in Transformation JMU Honors Program Brown Bag Series 10/4/00
JMU Conference on Diversity Roundtable Facilitator Sept, 2000
A Tribute to Black Womanhood: a multimedia presentation Alpha Phi Alpha March/2000
Spinach for the Corporate Culture: Diversity in the Contemporary Workplace 12/7/99
The African American Oral Tradition: A lecture and reading CMISS October/99
Black Love, Black Family and the Next Millenium AKA Sorority lecture/forum, 2/22/99
Ngugi Wa Thionga's A Grain of Wheat Blac k Voices (guest of Dr. Knipp) SLU, Fall 1995
Education & Liberation mock class/lecture, SAA/EOP pre-admission visit, UCSC 4/15/93
Recruitment/Retention of African-American Students Statewide A/BSA Conf' UCSC 4/25/92
Cultural Pursuit Porter College Residential Staff 4/22/91
Mo' Better Blues lecture/forum on Spike's Lee's films, College Eight 2/28/91
Bobby Seale's Address to Merrill Students MC/Facilitator 2/26/91
Education & Administration San Benito High Career Day, Hollister CA 11/7/90, 11/13/92
Racism 101/Cultural Pursuit: Combating Racism Merrill Residential Staff, 9/16/90
Afrikanity: The Rationale & Need in Higher Education F-Dorm, Oakes College , 2/89
The Culture of Resistance of Resistance F-Dorm, Oakes College spring 89
Brother from Another Planet , Oakes Core Course lecture, Fall 1988 w/Ed Guerrero
Black Male/Female Relationships: Initiating Discourse w/ Akilah Kemayo Spring 1990
Workshops on the Business of Being Black (Dr. Pat Canson, primary facilitator): Black Male Concerns on

Campus; Black Male/Female Relationships; and Blacks at Major Institutions

KZSC -- Sexism & Rap Music 9/16/90; Reproductive Rights & the Minority Community , Panelist 7/89;

Do the Right Thing: Trends in Media & Film Criticism , 8/89; History of Black Poetry , May & June 89

Awards, Memberships, Credentials, and Certificates

Trainer, ADL World of Difference/A Classroom of Difference
Member, College Language Association (CLA)
Member, Southern Conference on African American Studies, Inc. (SCAASI)
Member, National Council of Black Studies (NCBS)
Editorial Board, Collegiate Press consulting on Turbulent Voyage
Member, N'COBRA Washington D.C. Chapter
Member, St. Louis Region Coalition for African Centered Education (ACE),
Member, Southern Comparative Literature Association,
University Teaching Certificate – St. Louis University 's University Teaching Seminars 1996
Northern UC Representative, National Association of Academic Advisors, Pacific Region
Certificate of Appreciation for Service to the Community 1992 African American Grads (UCSC)
Josie King Award for Community Service, UCSC June 1990
Certificate of Achievement: Academic Excellence 1984 Ass'n of Black Faculty & Staff, So Cal Chapter
Founder/Treasurer, Stanford Black Psychology Student Association 1977

Volunteer Activities

I continue to deliver Kwanzaa, African and African American Folklore lectures, readings and presentations in local schools in addition to various presentations/workshops on diversity issues, Black History, drug awareness and positive lifestyle choices. I regularly provide Black history and cultural materials to public and private school teachers, churches and civic groups like Harrisonburg 's Young Achievers. My diversity workshop, The Who Am I ? Pie, has been adapted and facilitated in Santa Cruz CA , St. Louis MO , Richmond VA , and Harrisonburg , VA.