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People

Graduate Students

Our doctoral and graduate programs have a combined total of more than fifty students actively pursuing the PhD or MA degree in Afro-American Studies, or our graduate certificate in African Diaspora Studies. Our students come to us from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Ivy League liberal arts colleges, as well as from international institutions as far away as Japan, France, China, Colombia, Brazil, and Austria. Each year’s class forms a cohort that collaborate and support each other in a collegial way. Recent cohorts of MA and PhD students are listed below:


Maria Ximena Abello Hurtado

Ph.D.
History & Politics

mabellohurta@afroam.umass.edu

2012

Maria Ximena Abello Hurtado is from Cali, Columbia. She is a social worker who graduated from Universidad del Valle. As an active member of the Afro Colombian Group GAUV, she has participated as researcher in several projects related to the problems of Afro Colombian women and families. Her research has helped established complex linkages between family, gerontology and intercultural issues; effects of multiple forms of discrimination on Afro descended women in the case of access to public health care in Cali.

Photo of Anthony Brooks Brooks Andrew

Ph.D.
Literature & Culture

azbrooks@umass.edu

2022

Andrew Brooks grew up in Flint, Michigan and Long Beach, California. He received an undergraduate education at San Francisco State University, as well as earning graduate degrees from SFSU and the State University of New York at Albany. In addition, Andrew is the co-founder and current head editor of Living in Languages Translation Journal. His research interests revolve around the essay form through the long 20th century within African American literature and film traditions, focusing on the shift to the Black arts and power movement of the 1960s through to the greater public presence of Black queer forms of the 1980s and 90s. Within this context, Andrew is interested in the intersections of visual culture and performativity in the Black essay tradition. 

Mtali Banda Mtali Banda

Ph.D.
Literature & Culture

mbanda@umass.edu

2018

Mtali Banda grew up between Madison, WI and Atlanta Georgia. He received his B.A. in Afro-American Studies from UMass Amherst. He is interested in how black music has been used to share marginalized narratives and to help develop needed conversations. A musician himself, Mtali is on the literature and culture track.

Picture of Elise Barnett Elise Barnett

Ph.D.
Literature & Culture

ebarnett@umass.edu

2021

Elise Barnett is from Nassau, Bahamas and received her BA in English from the University of the Bahamas. Her research interests, which include critical race studies, gender studies, and theories of diaspora and decolonization, are informed by an interest in exploring the ways Afro-Caribbean women respond to traumas caused by colonialism and neocolonialism in their everyday praxis.

 

Dominick Braswell

Ph.D.
History & Politics

dbraswell@umass.edu

2020

Dominick Braswell is from Brooklyn, New York. He is a community organizer who works predominantly in poor/working-class black & brown neighborhoods. Dominick received his B.A. in Africana Studies with a minor in American Studies from Brooklyn College at the City University of New York. His research focuses on public housing and the ways that despite a body of scholarship deeply critical of welfare reform (and the attacks on the social safety net), these scholars have overlooked the attack on public housing. Dominick's broader research interests include 20th Century Afro-American history, Black Social Movements, gender studies, race, and public policy

Anaëlle Cama

Ph.D.
History & Politics

acama@umass.edu

2023

Anaëlle Cama was born and raised in Mulhouse, France. She underwent a two-year intensive program to prepare for the ENS (Ecole Normale Supérieure, or Superior Normal School in English) and finished the last year of a bachelor’s degree in English Studies at Jean Moulin Université in Lyon, France. She pursued a Master’s degree in Anglophone History at Université Paris Cité, during which she spent her second year at UMass as an international exchange student. Her research aims to be interdisciplinary as she equally tackles black nationalist politics, gender studies, and visual art history. As far as her personal interests, she enjoys any art form that engages with reversing and re-writing dominant narratives, particularly music and visual art. 

Biko (Jefferson) Caruthers Biko Caruthers

Ph.D.
Literature & Culture

jcaruthers@umass.edu

2017

Biko Caruthers is a PhD Candidate in the W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Biko holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Studies Education from Oklahoma Christian University (2011) and a Masters degree in History from the University of Central Oklahoma (2017). Biko’s research interests include 19th- and 20th-century Black literature, Black visual culture, gender studies, queer theory, childhood studies, Afropessimism, psychoanalysis, slavery and its afterlives and Black critical theory. Biko’s dissertation-in-progress is titled “Black Changeling: The Uncanny Genius of the African Child” which explores how Black cultural producers, specifically writers and visual artists, have deployed the figure of the Black child in order to critique and disregard the category of the Human.

Ariana Collazo

Ph.D.
History & Politics

arcollazo@umass.edu

2023

Ariana Collazo is from Chicago, Illinois. She received her B.A. in African and Black Diaspora Studies with a minor in Philosophy from DePaul University. Her research interests include Black Political Thought, Postcolonialism, Black Scandinavian culture and the concept of race in Scandinavia. 

 

Jordón Crawford

Ph.D.
History & Politics

jrcrawford@umass.edu

2022

Jordón Crawford is a current PhD student of Afro-American Studies (History and Politics) from Portmore, Jamaica. His main areas of research include Caribbean Studies, Race and the Law, Black Philosophy, and Black Queer and Feminist Theory. Jordón was a 2017 Davis Scholar at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA where he earned a double bachelor with honours in Politics and Race and Ethnic Studies. During his undergraduate studies, he was awarded the 2020 Perry Research Grant to conduct research with Prof. Zahi Zalloua on Posthumanist Studies and Black Ontologies. He received the best thesis award for his Politics thesis “Chunnel Deh a Yaad: Rethinking Jamaican Republicanism as a Solution to the Colonial Predicament”. He has conducted research on/with several leading Black scholars such as Drs. Angela Davis, Frank Wilderson, Calvin Warren etc. After his undergrad studies, Jordón went on to continue his legal studies, after which he worked as a Legal Project Manager at JND Legal Administration in Seattle, WA. Jordón is a community organiser and activist, violist, wine connoisseur, and lover of all things food. 

picture of Maya Cunningham Maya Cunningham

Ph.D.
Literature & Culture

mccunningham@umass.edu

2019

Maya Cunningham is an ethnomusicologist, cultural activist and jazz vocalist. She has an MA in ethnomusicology from the University of Maryland, College Park. She also holds a BMus. in jazz studies from Howard University and a MA in jazz performance from Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. Her research interests are in African-American and Southern African traditional music and identity, jazz, culturally responsive music education and applied ethnomusicology. In 2017 she received a Fulbright fellowship to study traditional music and national identity in Botswana and has presented her research and writing at conferences nationally and internationally. In 2017 she launched Ethnomusicology In Action, a project thatuses music, video, radio broadcasts and educational curricula to share stories about the people of Africa, African America and the Diaspora. As a part of this project Cunningham has a radio show called Music In Culture: Sounds of the Black Experiencethat airs monthly on WOWD 94.3 FM Takoma Radio. Learn more at www.EthnomusicologyInAction.com

 

 

Travis Davis Travis Davis

Ph.D.
History & Politics

tdavis@educ.umass.edu

2016

Travis Davis is from Mobile, Alabama. He received his BA in History from the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama, and his M.Ed. with a concentration in Social Justice Education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has also studied at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia and Bishop State Community College in Mobile, Alabama. His interests include the intersection of race and education, and how this intersection has historically impacted the black community.

picture of Makhai Pells Makhai Dickerson-Pells

MA
History & Politics

mdickersonpe@umass.edu

2021

Makhai Pells was born and raised in the town of Barnstable on Cape Cod, Ma. He received a BA in History from UMass Amherst in 2021. Aside from academics he was involved in cultural student organizations at UMass as the former President of the African Student Association, Vice President of the Cape Verdean Student Alliance, and Event Coordinator for the Native American Student Association. His research interests include Afro-Indigenous identity, cultural syncretism, African Diasporic studies, languages (including creoles and pidgins) Black Maritime history, and the cross-cultural relationships of Black and Indigenous peoples in the Americas, especially in New England and the eastern United States.

Letícia Fernanda

Ph.D.
Literature & Culture

lcsilva@umass.edu

2022

Letícia Fernanda is from Minas Gerais, Brazil. She holds a Bachelor's degree in English and Portuguese language and literature from the Federal University of Lavras. Her research focuses on examining the effects of colonialism in the formation of Afro-Brazilian identities and culture, including linguistic quilombos, as well as understanding how black identities and languages can be enhanced through the Critical Race Theory.

Paul Fowler

Ph.D.
History & Politics
José Gonzalez José Gonzalez

Ph.D.
Literature & Culture

jigonzalez@umass.edu

2018

José Gonzalez currently resides in Springfield, MA. He received his B.A. in Sociology with a double minor in Philosophy and Ethnic Studies from Westfield State University. José is interested in investigating how Colonialism has impacted the development of African descendants in North America and the Caribbean. His plan is to bridge the divide amongst African descendants in the Americas through educational praxis.

picture of Olivia Haynes Olivia Haynes

Ph.D.
Literature & Culture

ohaynes@umass.edu

2021

Olivia Haynes is from Philadelphia, PA. A member of the Phi Beta Kappa society, she received her B.A. in Visual and Material Culture with Africana Studies and Peace Studies from Goucher College in Baltimore, MD. Her research interests include unpacking historicized spaces and investigating ways of visualizing and reconstructing memories of the Middle Passage through the lens of visual and material culture. 

 

picture of Kara Ireland Kara Ireland

Ph.D.
History & Politics

kireland@umass.edu

2023

Kara Ireland is an author, poet, and burgeoning scholar. She recently graduated with her Masters in American Studies. She’s primarily interested in gender and queer studies with intentions of teaching similar classes at the collegiate level. Her research interests include Black feminism, respectability politics, internalized racism, and media analysis. Her hobbies include skateboarding, spoken word poetry, and karaoke.

Keyona Jones Keyona Jones

Ph.D.
Literature & Culture

kijones@umass.edu

2014

Keyona Jones joined the M.A. program and is from Springfield, MA. Keyona received her B.A. in English and Afro-American Studies from UMass Amherst. She is president of her sorority, Delta Xi Phi Multicultural Sorority Inc. Keyona’s interests include Women of the Harlem Renaissance. She would like to examine the female artists, both musicians and writers of the time, with a focus on the literature of Zora Neale Hurston.

picture of Karl Lyn Karl Lyn

Ph.D.
Literature & Culture

klyn@umass.edu

2020

Karl Lyn was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, California. He received his B.A in Africana Studies and Educational Studies from Dickinson College, and his Master’s of Education (M.Ed) from UMass Amherst. His interests include the intersections between Black cultural production, racial politics, and education in the United States.

Kymberly S. Newberry Kymberly S. Newberry

Ph.D.
History & Politics

knewberry@umass.edu

2016

Kymberly Newberry is from Los Angeles, California. A proud Frances Perkins Scholar, she received her B.A. in International Relations from Mount Holyoke College. Her interests include, the intersectionality of visual art and diplomacy, Francophone Africa and the influence of Africa on the Iranian Revolution. 
 

Anthony Phillips

Ph.D.
History & Politics

aphillips@afroam.umass.edu

2012

Anthony Phillips is from Philadelphia, PA and received his M.A. degree in Black Religion in the African Diaspora from Yale Divinity School. In 2010, he graduated as a Benjamin Elijah Mays Scholar with a B.A. in African American Studies and Philosophy from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Anthony is an alumni member of The Institute for Responsible Citizenship and is the proud Co-Founder of Youth Action, a Philadelphia based youth-led service non-profit operated by young African Americans.

Cynara Robinson Cynara Robinson

Ph.D.
History & Politics

ckrobins@afroam.umass.edu

2008

Cynara Robinson is from New Orleans, Louisanna. She received her B.A. in Journalism and an M.A. in History from Howard University. Her research interests include looking at social movements of the 1960s and 1970s, inclusive of interests in the urban rebellions and those occurring on black college campuses.

Quaram Robinson

Ph.D.
History & Politics

2018

picture of Tatiana Rodriguez Tatiana Rodriguez
Literature & Culture

tmrodriguez@umass.edu

2020

Tatiana Rodriguez is an interdisciplinary scholar, writer, and theatre practitioner based in Western, MA. She received three bachelor’s degrees in Theater, English, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. As an artistic scholar, Tatiana’s research centers on Black feminist and womanist theatre methodologies during the Civil Rights era, as well as in the Black Power and Black Arts Movement. More specifically, her research seeks to examine how Black feminist/womanist theatre praxes served as sites for collective storytelling, survival, resistance, and healing. Additional areas of interest that ground and inspire her research include cultural ethnography, auto-ethnography, art-based pedagogy, and community-based participatory action research (CBPR).

Ivan Rosario Ivan Rosario

Ph.D.
History & Politics

irosario@umass.edu

2015

Ivan Rosario was born and raised in Springfield, MA. He received his B.A. in Ethnic and Gender Studies from Westfield State University. Ivan interests focus on the use of Hip Hop, sports and other forms of entertainment as social tools of exploitation and degradation of Black culture.

Erika Slocumb

Ph.D.
History & Politics

eslocumb@umass.edu

2016

Erika Slocumb was born and raised of Springfield, MA. She is a mother, an artist, a community organizer, world traveler and an advocate for social justice. Erika is the cofounder of the community organization the Western Mass Women’s Collective. Erika received her B.A. in Social Justice Education and a MS in Labor Studies from UMass Amherst.

picture of Marcus Smith Marcus Smith

Ph.D.
History & Politics

mpsmith@umass.edu

2021

Marcus Smith is from Houston, Texas. He received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Houston and his M.A. in African-American Studies from Georgia State University. His research interests center on the history and analysis of social movements and political organizations in the African Diaspora and the preservation, documentation, and interpretation of African-American communities, cultural landscapes, and historic sites. Specifically, Marcus is interested in the grassroots preservation efforts of Black individuals, groups, and communities, the social and political context in which this preservation occurs, and the associated individual and community narratives.

Kerli Solari Diaz

MA
History & Politics

ksolaridiaz@umass.edu

2023

Kerli Solari Diaz is an Afro-Peruvian lawyer from Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru (PUCP). She completed an International Specialization in Afro-Latin American and Caribbean Studies from the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), and is a collaborator of Afrocolectiva, an online community of Afro-Iberoamerican women committed to social justice and the democratization of knowledge. Her research interests include human rights and public policy, race and ethnicity, human mobility, and gender and sexual diversity.

photo of Paul Michael Thomson Paul Michael Thomson

Ph.D.
Literature & Culture

pthomson@umass.edu

2021

Paul Michael Thomson is an interdisciplinary scholar, theatre artist, and co-founder of The Story Theatre, 501(c)(3) in Chicago, IL. Paul Michael's research explores the intersections of creative practice and Black liberation, with a particular investment in the new play development praxes of the Black Arts Movement in Chicago. Other research interests include Black feminisms, contemporary drama, and the role of writing workshops in Black creative communities. He graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Africana Studies, a BFA in Acting, and minors in Spanish & Art History from the Honors College at the University of Arizona. He has received fellowships from the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, the W.E.B. Du Bois Center, and the Flinn Foundation. To engage more, please visit paulmichaelthomson.com.

Marisa Williams

Ph.D.
Literature & Culture
Robert Williams Robert Williams

Ph.D.
History & Politics

rwillila@acad.umass.edu

2011

Robert Williams was born and raised in the Pioneer Valley. He received his B.A. in Education/History from American International College and an M.A. in Medieval History from Saint Andrews University. He is interested in examining the ghettoization and marginalization of African American experiences in American Secondary School U.S. History curricula.

picture of Christian Woods Christian Woods

Ph.D.
History & Politics

cwoods@umass.edu

2020

Christian Floyd Woods was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts. He received his B.A. in Afro-American Studies from the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at UMass Amherst in 2020. As an undergraduate at UMass Amherst, Woods was a member of numerous cultural organizations, including C.V.S.A., H.A.S.A., S.O.C.A., B.S.U., A.S.A., E.O.R.O. as well as serving as secretary for the Afro-American Studies Undergraduate Council. Woods is well rounded in African-American and African history as a whole but specializes in 20th century African-American music history, African-American film history, and the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements. 

picture of Zia Zhang Jia Zhang

Ph.D.
Literature & Culture