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Faculty Affiliates

 

Photo of Tiffany D. Atkins

Tiffany D. Atkins: Assistant Professor – J. David Rosenberg College of Law; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Race; Equity; Human Rights

 
Photo of Joseph Benitez

Joseph Benitez: Assistant Professor – Martin School of Public Policy and Administration; Faculty Affiliate – American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Health Economics; Medicaid Policy; Medicaid Program Design

 
Photo of Devyn Spence Benson

Devyn Spence Benson: Associate Professor – Department of History; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Latin American and Caribbean History, esp. Cuba (19th/20th century); Africana Studies; Afro-Latinx Studies; Transnational Black Feminisms; Afro-Latin America

 
Photo of Nikki Brown

Nikki Brown: Associate Professor – Department of History; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: African American History; African American women; Film and Visual Studies; Photography

 
Photo of Joseph Clark

Joseph Clark: Assistant Professor – Department of History; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Early Modern Atlantic World; Slavery and African Diaspora; Latin America and the Caribbean; Environmental History

 
Photo of Lisa Cliggett

Lisa Cliggett: Professor – Department of Anthropology; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Political Ecology; Sustainability and Environmental Change; Household Political Economy; Kinship-Family and Social Organization; Sub-Saharan Africa, Zambia, Gwembe Tonga Research Project; Qualitative Methods; Digital Data Management; Gender, Aging, and Life Course; Livelihoods; Migration and New Land Settlement; Political Economy

 
Photo of Steve Davis

Steve Davis: Associate Professor – Department of History; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: South African History; Microhistory; Public History; African History; Digital Humanities; Artificial Intelligence; Machine Learning; Human Rights; Data Visualization; Virtual and Augmented Reality; New Military History

 
Photo of Brandon M. Erby

Brandon M. Erby: Assistant Professor – Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies; Faculty Affiliate – African American & African Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: African American Rhetoric; Rhetorical History; Literacy Studies; Rhetorical Education; Prison Studies; Political Rhetoric

 
Photo of Kamahra Ewing

Kamahra Ewing: Assistant Professor – Department of English; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: African Diaspora; Film and Media Studies; Contemporary Africa and Post-colonial and Decolonial Theories; Global South Studies; Brazil and Latin America; Gender and Ethnic Identity; Ethnography; African, African American, and Caribbean Literature and Culture; Film; Multicultural American Literature

 
Photo of Crystal Felima

Crystal Felima: Assistant Professor – Department of Anthropology; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Disasters and Crises; Black Ecologies; Emergency Management and Response; Mapping and GIS; Black Feminist Theory; Narrative Research; Embodiment and Exposure; Haiti, Caribbean, Small Islands, West Africa; Climate Change

 
Photo of Jeremy Gillett

Jeremy Gillett: Assistant Professor – Department of Theater and Dance, College of Fine Arts; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Playwriting; Acting

 
Photo of Gregory Hall

Gregory Hall: Associate Professor – Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: International Relations; International Security; Foreign Policy; Global South Affairs; International Political Economy; Eurasian Affairs; Research Methodology

 
Photo of Aria Halliday

Aria Halliday: Associate Professor – Department of Gender and Women’s Studies; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Black Feminist Theory; Black Girlhood Studies; Black Visual Culture; 20th and 21st Century Cultural Studies

 
Photo of Regina Hamilton-Townsend

Regina Hamilton-Townsend: Assistant Professor – Department of English; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: African American Literature; African, African American, and Caribbean Literature and Culture; 20th Century Women’s Narrative; Gender and Race; Queer Black Studies

 
Photo of Whitney Hanley

Whitney Hanley: Assistant Professor – College of Education; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Black girls with dis/abilities

 
Photo of Frances Henderson

Frances Henderson: Associate Professor – Department of Gender and Women’s Studies; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Black Feminism; Women and Social Movements; Comparative Politics; Women and Feminisms in Southern Africa

 
photo of Rachel Hooper

Rachel Hooper: Curator – UK Art Museum, College of Fine Arts; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences

Photo of D'lorah L Hughes

D'lorah L Hughes: Professor and Director of Clinics and Externships – J. Rosenberg College of Law; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Experiential/Clinical Education; Criminal Law; Juvenile Justice

 
Photo of Ada Johnson-Kanu

Ada Johnson-Kanu: Assistant Professor – Department of Political Science; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Comparative Politics; Political Economy; African Politics; Economic History

 
 
Photo of Hilary Jones

Hilary Jones: Associate Professor – Department of History; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: African History; African Diaspora; Atlantic History; French Empire; Women; Gender and Sexuality

 
Photo of Reinette Jones

Reinette Jones: Professor and Special Collections Librarian – M.I. King Library; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: African American History; Book and Library History; Gender and Women’s Studies; History of African American Librarians and Librarianship in Kentucky; African American women musicians; Lesbian Studies

 
Photo of Peter Kalliney

Peter Kalliney: Professor – Department of English; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: 20th and 21st Century British Literature and Culture; African American and Caribbean Literature and Culture; Postcolonial and Global Literature

 
Photo of Jap-Nanak Kaur Makkar

Jap-Nanak Kaur Makkar: Assistant Professor – Department of English; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Postcolonial and Global Literature; Method and Interpretation; Aesthetics and Politics; Histories of Colonialism and Capitalism

 
photo of Sophia Kitlinski

Sophia Kitlinski: Assistant Professor – School of Art & Visual Studies, College of Fine Arts; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences

Photo of Bertin M. Louis Jr.

Bertin M. Louis Jr.: Associate Professor – Department of Anthropology; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: African Studies; Cultural Anthropology; Race and Racism; African Diaspora; Religion; Human Rights; Statelessness; Migration; Haiti; Haitian Studies; Haitian Protestantism; Antiracist Movements; The Bahamas; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Anti-Haitianism

 
Photo of Marta N. Mack

Marta N. Mack: Lecturer – College of Education; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Anti-Black Sexism in Sport; Black Performance; Black Women in Sport

 
Photo of Christopher K. Marshburn

Christopher K. Marshburn: Assistant Professor – Department of Psychology; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Racism; Social Support and Responsiveness; Discrimination; Prejudice and Stereotypes

 
Photo of Priscilla McCutcheon

Priscilla McCutcheon: Associate Professor – Department of Geography; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Alternative Food Movements; Sustainable Agriculture; Black Geographies; Race and Racism; Spirituality and Religion

 
Photo of Shauna M. Morgan

Shauna M. Morgan: Associate Professor – Department of English; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Creative Writing; African American Literature and Culture; Postcolonial and Global Anglophone Literature; Women’s Literature and Gender Studies; Literary Theory; African Literature and Film

 
Photo of Francis Musoni

Francis Musoni: Associate Professor – Department of History; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Modern African History; Migration; Refugees; Border Studies; Internal Economies

 
Photo of Lydia Pelot-Hobbs

Lydia Pelot-Hobbs: Assistant Professor – Department of Geography; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: The Carceral State; Racial Capitalism; Social Movements and Grassroots Organizing; Prison Abolition; Black Geographies; Feminist and Queer Politics; Louisiana; Critical Urban Studies

 
Photo of Karen Rignall

Karen Rignall: Assistant Professor - Community and Leadership Development, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment; Faculty Affiliate - African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Agri-Food systems in the Middle East and North Africa; Rural Livelihoods and Economic Development; Anthropology of Rural Life; Land Tenure and Land Rights Movements; Labor Migration

 
Photo of Gerónimo Sarmiento Cruz

Gerónimo Sarmiento Cruz: Assistant Professor – Department of English; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Minority Literature; Poetry & Politics; Contemporary Poetry; Hemispheric Literature; Native American and Indigenous Studies; Marxism; Twentieth and 21st Century American Literature and Culture

 
Photo of Richard H. Schein

Richard H. Schein: Professor – Department of Geography; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research interests: Cultural and Historical Geography, U.S. Urban Landscapes, Land and Property, Race, Racialization, and Racism, Methodology (Archives, Landscape as Method)

 
Photo of Nisrine Slitine El Mghari

Nisrine Slitine El Mghari: Assistant Professor – Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Maghrebi Literature and Culture; Colonial and Post-Colonial Studies; Literature and Culture of Muslim Spain; Urban Space; Cultural Memory Studies; Gender Studies; Feminist Geography; Film and Visual Culture

 
Photo of Gerald L. Smith

Gerald L. Smith: Professor – Department of History; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: African American History; Race and Sports; Black Freedom Struggle; African American Education; Kentucky African American History

 
Photo of Melissa N. Stein

Melissa N. Stein: Associate Professor – Department of Gender and Women’s Studies; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Critical Race Studies; Gender Studies; Feminist Science Studies; The Body; Racial Thought; Sexuality and Queer History; U.S. Cultural and Intellectual History; African America History; Women’s and Gender History; History of Science and Medicine

 
Photo of Amy Murrell Taylor

Amy Murrell Taylor: Professor – Department of History; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: 19th Century U.S. South; Civil War and Reconstruction; Slavery and Emancipation; Race and Gender; Public History

 
Photo of Shemeka Thorpe

Shemeka Thorpe: Assistant Professor – College of Education; Faculty Affiliate – African American & African Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Sexual Health, Human Sexuality, Health Education

 
Photo of Kenneth M. Tyler

Kenneth M. Tyler: Associate Dean and Professor – College of Education; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Diversity in Education; Motivation; Educational Psychology

 
Photo of Daniel Vivian

Daniel Vivian: Associate Professor – Department of Historic Preservation, College of Design; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: 19th and 20th Century U.S. History; Public History; Historical Memory; Historic Preservation

 
Photo of Frank X Walker

Frank X Walker: Professor – Department of English; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Poetry and Poetics; Fiction; African American Cinema; Affrilachia; Diversity in Comics and Graphic Novels; Playwriting and Black Theater; Creative Writing

 
Photo of Peter Wang

Peter Wang: Assistant Professor – School of Art and Visual Studies, College of Fine Arts; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: American Art and Visual Culture; History of Photography; Museum Studies; Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Contemporary Art

 
Photo of Keith J. Watts

Keith J. Watts: Assistant Professor – College of Social Work; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Black LGBTQ+; Mental Health; Well-being; Community; Belongingness; Identity and Intersectionality

 
Photo of JWells

JWells: Assistant Professor – Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Literacy Studies; Maternal Incarceration; Cultural Rhetorics; Women’s Rhetorics; Feminist Mothering Practices

 
Photo of Brandi White

Brandi White: Assistant Professor – College of Medicine; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Health Equity; Community Engagement; Diversity of the Healthcare Workforce

 
Photo of Derrick White

Derrick White: Professor – Department of History; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Intellectual History; Sports History; Political History

 
Photo of Stephanie White

Stephanie White: Associate Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Medical Student Education – College of Medicine; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Race and Medicine; Health Disparities; Addressing Inequities in Academic Medicine

 
Photo of Lauren Whitehurst

Lauren Whitehurst: Assistant Professor – Department of Psychology; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Sleep and Circadian Rhythms; Autonomic Nervous System; Memory; Stress/Discrimination; Cognitive Health; Psychopharmacology; Neuroimaging; Non-Invasive Stimulation

 
Photo of Crystal Wilkinson

Crystal Wilkinson: Professor – Department of English; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Creative Writing; Nonfiction Writing

 
Photo of George C. Wright

George C. Wright: Senior Advisor to the President and Professor – Department of History; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: Kentucky History; Black History; Global Black Freedom Struggle

 
Photo of Nazera Sadiq Wright

Nazera Sadiq Wright: Associate Professor – Department of English; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: African American Literature and Culture; Women’s Literature and Gender Studies; Black Girlhood Studies; Black Print Culture Studies

 
photo of Daniel Esquivia Zapata

Esquivia Zapata: Assistant Professor – School of Art and Visual Studies, College of Fine Arts; Faculty Affiliate – African American & Africana Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. Research Interests: the intersection of art, violence, and historical memory