Faculty News

Dr. Oscar Barbarin is the principal investigator for a project examining the relationship between disparities among young Black boys and exclusionary discipline practices in schools as early as pre-school. Dr. Barbarin hopes that findings from national and statewide data, in addition to individual case studies, will inform researchers looking to offer assistance to school districts. Interest is primarily focused on replacing practices like suspension and expulsion with a more effective disciplinary alternative.

Dr. Robert Choflet, along with Drs. Sharon Harley and Angel Dunbar, was awarded the 2022 Experiential Learning Grant from the University of Maryland’s Teaching & Learning Transformation Center. The grant will support the development and expansion of experiential learning opportunities for students in the department’s General Education courses, beginning with Black Culture in the US. The work this semester will focus on student research within cultural archives, including a trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It will culminate with studentcurated black cultural life exhibits, to be presented to their peers.

Faculty News

Dr. John Drabinski presented two essays in the fall semester of 2022: “Life, Death, and Futurity in the Work of Achille Mbembe” in an edited collection on political theory in the black Atlantic and “Citing and Siting the Postmodern: Lyotard and the Black Atlantic,” in a volume on the work of Jean-Francois Lyotard. In Spring of 2022, Dr. Drabinski launched a podcast entitled Conversations in Atlantic Theory with collaborators Fatima Seck, a doctoral student in Comparative Literature at the University of Maryland and Keisha Allan, Assistant Professor at Baruch College. The podcast focuses on “books and ideas generated from and about the Atlantic world”.

Dr. Cecily Hardaway published “Beyond role strain: Work–family sacrifice among underrepresented minority faculty” with co-authors Dr. Ruth Zambrana (Professor in the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Maryland) and Dr. Leah Neubauer (Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University). The study, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, describes the work–family experiences of underrepresented minority professionals. Additionally, Dr. Hardaway was a panelist at the Consortium of Race and Gender Scholars discussion on “Innovative Ways to Research Social Equity,” sponsored by the George Washington University, Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration.

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Faculty News

Dr. Sharon Harley, principal investigator of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-funded project, “Race/Ethnicity and Gender in a Shifting Demographic and Racial Climate in the Black/African Diaspora,” invited students and fellow researchers to participate in a summer seminar at the Nkrumah Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana. The workshop consisted of meetings and public events that offered nuanced perspectives and understandings of racial and ethnic identities and gender issues in the Black/African diaspora. Dr. Harley is also completing a book (Yale University Press) about Nannie Helen Burroughs, a noted suffragist, black feminist church leader, and an outspoken advocate for racial justice. In 2022, she received the 2022 Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Distinguished Alumni Award .

Dr.George Kintiba made two notable presentations during 2022. His Brown Bag Lecture, “Black Soldiers in French War of Liberation,” focused on the experiences of Black soldiers from African colonies and Caribbean overseas French territories post French liberation in WWII. Additionally, Dr. Kintiba served as one of three panelists for “Decolonizing the (Un)Commonwealth: PanAfrican Perspectives on the Movement for Reparations and the Legacy of Colonialism.” The goal of the panel was to explore how reconnecting people of African descent can occur through intercultural awareness, exchange, enrichment, and studentcentered education experiences. Dr. Kintiba spent some time in Spanish Town, Jamaica, interviewing community members for a book project in collaboration with a colleague from Florida State University. The project focuses on resilience, religion, and therapy in English speaking Caribbean.

Faculty News

Cras Dr. Sangeetha Madhavan is principal investigator of the JAMO Project, a five year Dr. Joseph Richard-study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The project focuses on determining the extent to which kinship support and marriage benefit children in urban subSaharan African settings. She spent two weeks in February and part of the summer in Nairobi, Kenya, conducting training for Wave 2 data collection of the JAMO project. Dr. Madhavan was joined on these trips Dr. Joseph by UMD colleagues as well as the Kenyan collaborators. Additionally, Dr. Madhavan is the recipient of the 2021-2022 Seed Grant from the Maryland Population Research Center for the JAMO Project. She has also started her term as a reviewer for a Study Section at the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development.

Dr. Ashley Newby spent much of 2022 coming into her new role as Director of Undergraduate Studies. In between the business of undergraduate-centered work and finalizing exciting new lecture material, Dr. Newby presented a Brown Bag Lecture Dr. Mike WagnerDr. Mike Wagner titled “Passing the Aux Cord: Co-Constructing Knowledge in the College Classroom Through Hip-Hop.” Here, she lead engaging discussions on Hip-Hop music and culture through reviewing playlists, guiding on composition within the genre, and addressing how to convey ideas in a unique manner.

Faculty News

Dr. Jason Nichols presented a Brown Bag Lecture titled: “And the White Man Gets Paid off All That: Kanye West, Mental Health, Black Manhood and Materialism.” Here, he explored topics such as Kanye Dr. Joseph Richardson West and understanding racial capitalism, heteronormative Black masculinity, materialism, and the overall impacts of mental health. On October 6th, 2022, Dr. Dr. Nichols published a piece in Newsweek on the significance of Justice Kentaji Brown and his thoughts on her role in the Supreme Court. Dr. Nichols hosts a podcast titled “Vince and Jason Save the Nation,” which is a left-right political debate show that “grapples with America’s most pressing questions.” Dr. Joseph Richardson was selected to screen his film, “Life After the Gunshot,”at the 2022 DC International Film Festival. The film explores the impact of the healthcare and criminal justice systems through conversations with young Black men who have survived and endured gun violence. The project and film was created with the help of violence intervention specialist and gun-violence survivor, Che Bullock. Additionally, Dr. Richardson was honored as the keynote speaker at the Rutgers New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center, Gun Violence Research Day. His presentation focused on the relationship between structural violence and interpersonal violence among Black men. Dr. Richardson holds an appointment as inaugural MPower professor for his commitment and research to improving the lives of victims of gun violence. On October 17th, Dr. Richardson delivered the UMD Homecoming “Beyond the Field” address focused on the impacts of gun violence on Black communities.

Dr. Joseph Richardson Dr. Mike Wagner

Faculty News

Dr. Chinyere Osuji joined AFAM as an Associate Professor at the University AFAM welcomes Dr. Osuji as an Associate AFAM welcomes Dr. Osuji as an Asof Maryland this year. She is the author of Professor at the University of Maryland. Dr. sociate Professor at the University Boundaries of Love: Interracial Marriage and Osuji is the author of Boundaries of Love: of Maryland. Dr. Osuji is the author the Meaning of Race, a book focused on 47 Interracial Marriage and the Meaning of of Boundaries of Love: Interracial black-white couples in two large cities, Los Race, a book largely focused on 47 blackwhite couples in two large cities, Los Angeles and Rio De Janeiro. As of 2022, Dr. Osuji has embarked on a new research project focused around first and second-generation African immigrants in the nursing profession. She hopes that this Marriage and the Meaning of Race, a book largely focused on 47 blackwhite couples in two large cities, Los Angeles and Rio De Janeiro. As of 2022, Dr. Osuji has embarked on a new research project focused around first and second-generAngeles and Rio De Janeiro. In 2022, Dr. Osuji embarked on a new research project focused on first and second-generation African immigrants in the nursing profession. She hopes that this project will offer new insights to understanding the project will offer new insight to under-ation African immigrants in the racial politics of healthcare and the role of nursing profession. She hopes that nursing in addressing health inequities. In this project will offer new insight addition to her research, Dr. Osuji hosts a podcast titled “Dr. Chi’s Sa-lon” in which she explores politics, culture, and society.

Dr. Shane Bolles-Walsh is committed to fostering positive student life at the University of Maryland. Having spent the last two years on the Senate Student Conduct Committee, he now looks forward to another two years with the Senate Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee, which actively promotes equity, diversity, and inclusion, including policies on non-discrimination and accessibility. Outside of student life, Dr. Bolles-Walsh is looking forward to planning a special event for Black History Month, as well as assembling a proposal for a book-length version of his dissertation titled Colossus of Rutgers: The Visual and Print Media Legacy of Paul Leroy Robeson.

Faculty News

Dr. Mike Wagner spent part of the summer in Nairobi, Kenya alongside colleague Dr. Sangeetha Madhavan working on the JAMO project. This was Dr. Wagner’s first trip outside the United States, and he was accompanied by his wife, Erika. They became particularly close with their tour guide, whose granddaughter is preparing to apply to the University of Maryland. Dr. Wagner is mentoring her through the application process. Additionally, Dr. Wagner devotes part of his time to working with Dr. Jessica Magidson, an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology.