People

  1. Department Head
  2. Faculty
  3. Emeritus Professors
  4. Affiliate Faculty
  5. Staff
  6. Graduate Students
  7. Recent Graduates
  8. Academic Advisor

Department Head

Cynthia A. Young

  • Department Head, African American Studies
  • Associate Professor of African American Studies and English

Email: cay9@psu.edu

Faculty

Keith Gilyard

  • Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English and African American Studies
  • Director of Graduate Studies

Phone: (814) 865-9123

Email: rkg3@psu.edu

Abraham Khan

  • Assistant Professor of African American Studies and Communication Arts and Sciences

Phone: (814) 863-8966

Email: axk418@psu.edu

Charles Lumpkins

  • Assistant Teaching Professor of Labor and Employment Relations

Phone: (814) 867-0368

Email: cll116@psu.edu

Maha Marouan

  • Associate Professor of African American Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Phone: (814) 867-4269

Email: mzm24@psu.edu

AnneMarie Mingo

  • Assistant Professor of African American Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Phone: (814) 867-5954

Email: axm583@psu.edu

Zachary R. Morgan

  • Associate Professor of History and African American Studies

Phone: (814) 863-8080

Email: zzm20@psu.edu

Courtney Morris

  • Assistant Professor of African American Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Phone: (814) 867-5953

Email: cdm259@psu.edu

Matthew Omelsky

  • Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow

Email: muo312@psu.edu

Darryl Thomas

  • Associate Professor of African American Studies

Phone: (814) 863-2427

Email: dct10@psu.edu

Timeka Tounsel

  • Assistant Professor of African American Studies and Media Studies

Phone: (814) 865-9496

Email: tnt14@psu.edu

Nan Elizabeth Woodruff

  • Professor of African American Studies and Modern U.S. History

Phone: (814) 865-3796

Email: new7@psu.edu

Emeritus Professors

Vincent Colapietro

  • Liberal Arts Research Professor of Philosophy and African American Studies

Phone: (814) 865-1618

Email: vxc5@psu.edu

David McBride

  • Professor of African American Studies and African American History

Phone: (814) 865-5256

Email: dqm9@psu.edu

Affiliate Faculty

Robert Bernasconi

  • Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Philosophy and African American Studies

Phone: (814) 865-6398

Email: rlb43@psu.edu

B. Stephen Carpenter II

  • Professor of Art Education and African American Studies

Phone: (814) 863-7314

Email: bsc5@psu.edu

Ebony Coletu

  • Assistant Professor of English and African American Studies

Phone: (814) 863-2343

Email: euc179@psu.edu

Amira Davis

  • Assistant Professor of History and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies

Email: ard51@psu.edu

Justin De Senso

  • Lecturer of English and African American Studies
  • Penn State Berks

Phone: (610) 396-6378

Email: jxd367@psu.edu

Niki Dickerson von Lockette

  • Associate Professor of Labor and Employment Relations and African American Studies

Email: ntd10@psu.edu

Emily Grosholz

  • Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Philosophy, English, and African American Studies

Phone: (814) 865-1676

Email: erg2@psu.edu

Joshua Inwood

  • Associate Professor of Geography and African American Studies
  • Senior Research Associate in the Rock Ethics Institute

Phone: (814) 865-3433

Email: jfi6@psu.edu

Royel Montel Johnson

  • Assistant Professor of Education and African American Studies

Email: rmj19@psu.edu

Gary King

  • Professor of Biobehavioral Health and African American Studies

Phone: (814) 863-8184

Email: gxk14@psu.edu

Wanda Knight

  • Associate Professor of Art Education, African American Studies, and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Email: wbk10@psu.edu

Shirley Moody-Turner

  • Associate Professor of English and African American Studies

Phone: (814) 863-9584

Email: scm18@psu.edu

Jeanine Staples

  • Associate Professor of Education (LLED) and African American Studies

Phone: (814) 867-2734

Email: jms1098@psu.edu

Kirt H. Wilson

  • Associate Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences and African American Studies

Phone: (814) 865-1985

Email: khw2@psu.edu

Staff

Melissa Hummel

Phone: (814) 863-4243

Email: mjc7030@psu.edu

Ashley Scott

  • Administrative Support Assistant

Phone: (814) 863-4243

Email: ams87@psu.edu

Jamie Whitehead

  • Undergraduate and Graduate Staff Assistant

Phone: (814) 863-4243

Email: jle1@psu.edu

Graduate Students

Jeremy Adams

  • Ph.D. Candidate – Philosophy and African American and Diaspora Studies

Email: jma41@psu.edu

Akash Belsare

  • Ph.D. Candidate – English and African American and Diaspora Studies

Email: ayb121@psu.edu

D'Angelo Bridges

  • Ph.D. Candidate – English and African American and Diaspora Studies

Email: dab496@psu.edu

Tiesha Cassel

  • Ph.D. Candidate - Philosophy and African American and Diaspora Studies

Email: tac47@psu.edu

Richard Daily

  • Ph.D. Candidate – History and African American and Diaspora Studies

Email: rdd25@psu.edu

Brandon Erby

  • Ph.D. Candidate – English and African American and Diaspora Studies

Email: bue114@psu.edu

Gabriel Green

  • Ph.D. Candidate – English and African American and Diaspora Studies

Email: gkg5081@psu.edu

Michael Hicks

  • Ph.D. Candidate – History and African American and Diaspora Studies

Email: muh301@psu.edu

ShaVonte Mills

  • Ph.D. Candidate – History and African American and Diaspora Studies

Email: skm5577@psu.edu

Ciara Newton

  • Ph.D. Candidate – Art Education and African American and Diaspora Studies

Email: cpn5035@psu.edu

Mudiwa Pettus

  • Ph.D. Candidate – English and African American and Diaspora Studies

Email: mmp258@psu.edu

Tyler Sperrazza

  • Ph.D. Student – History and African American and Diaspora Studies

Email: txs392@psu.edu

Bailey Thomas

  • Ph.D. Candidate – Philosophy and African American and Diaspora Studies

Email: kxt96@psu.edu

Recent Graduates

Jazmine Amanda Alexander

  • Graduating Class: December 2015
  • Major: Economics
  • Minor: African American Studies

Mariatu Bah

  • Graduating Class: December 2016
  • Major: Health Policy and Administration
  • Minor: African American Studies

Michael Banerjee

  • Graduating Class: May 2016
  • Majors: Criminology and African American Studies

Maya Blue-Robinson

  • Graduating Class: May 2016
  • Major: Advertising and Public Relations with a concentration in Advertising
  • Minor: African American Studies

Whitney Brown

  • Graduating Class: May 2017
  • Major: Legal Studies, Government Service, Public Policy Option
  • Minor: African American Studies

Morgan Burton

  • Graduating Class: May 2017
  • Major: Business Management with a focus in Human Resources
  • Minor: African American Studies

Elizabeth Catchmark

  • Graduating Class: May 2017
  • Majors: African American Studies, English, Philosophy, and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Miya Crosby

  • Graduating Class: May 2016
  • Major: African American Studies, Asian Studies, Comparative Literature, Global and International Studies
  • Minor: English, Korean

Taylor Elliott

  • Graduating Class: December 2015
  • Major: African American Studies
  • Minor: Communications Art and Sciences

Alphonso Grant

  • Ph.D. – Art Education and African American and Diaspora Studies

Email: awg136@psu.edu

Kerrie G. Green, Jr.

  • Graduating Class: May, 2016
  • Major: African American Studies
  • Minor: Sociology

Kenyah Jordan-Jackson

  • Graduating Class: May 2016
  • Major: Broadcast Journalism
  • Minor: African American Studies

Tykia McWilliams

  • Graduating Class: May 2016
  • Major: Public Relations
  • Minor: African American Studies

Samantha Reid

  • Graduating Class: May 2016
  • Major: Secondary Social Studies Education
  • Minors: African American Studies, History

Adenike "Nikky" Samuel

  • Graduating Class: May 2017
  • Majors: Broadcast Journalism
  • Minors: African American Studies, Business L.A.

Brisa Marie Smith Flores

  • Graduating Class: May 2016
  • Majors: Art History, Global and International Studies, and History
  • Minors: African American Studies, Latin American Studies

Christian James Tabron

  • Graduating Class: May 2016
  • Majors: African American Studies and Criminology
  • Minor: Sociology

Academic Advisor

Kristie Kalvin

  • Undergraduate Advisor for African American Studies

Phone: (814) 865-5588

Email: klk16@psu.edu