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Our Field—African Diaspora Studies
As a department our faculty and graduate students are doing research in the following geographic areas:
America and territories
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Latin America and the Caribbean
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Africa
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Asia
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Europe
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Oceania
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The languages spoken in our department include:
Creole, English, French, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili, Wolof, and Zulu.
Graduate Advisor: Ula Y. Taylor, Associate Professor uyt@berkeley.edu
Welcome Fall 2008 Entering Graduate Cohort
CHRISTOPHER FERGUSON — B.A., African American Studies, University of Southern California
My name is Chris Ferguson and my interests include the production and reception of masculinity in hip-hop and the repertoire of black manhood contained therein.
I am also drawn to notions of black "authenticity" and how they are communicated, interpreted, and (mis)appropriated.BRYAN MASON — M.A. Graduate Theological Union, Systematic Philosophical Theology; B.A., Drexel University, Information Systems
IANNA HAWKINS OWEN — B.A., The City University of New York (Hunter College), Africana Studies
Ianna graduated (valedictorian) with a B.A. from CUNY Hunter College in Africana Studies. Her research interests include the cultivation of subjectivity in Black folklore and storytelling as a form of witness. In the past she has worked in a transformative capacity with All City (a NYC-based radical education collective) and the Safe OUTside the System Collective of the Audre Lorde Project (a Brooklyn-based group committed to ending police and hate violence against queer and transgender people of color).SHAUN OSSEI-OWUSU — M.L.A., University of Pennsylvania, Africana Studies; B.S., Northwestern University, Communications Studies
Shaun received his B.S. in Communication Studies with a minor in African American Studies from Northwestern University in 2007. Afterwards, he pursued and received his M.L.A. in Africana Studies with an emphasis in Urban Studies while teaching at a charter school in North Philadelphia. His interests revolve around urbanity and include urban ethnography as well as race and popular culture (particularly sports and hip-hop). He is also interested in analyzing how the legal and criminal justice systemsimpact racialized communities in urban cities. For fun he likes to travel, explore cities, read, write, and listen to music.
Current Graduate Students
BASCOMB, LIA
lia13@berkeley.edu
Lia earned her B.A. in African American Studies with a concentration in Diaspora Studies from Yale University. Her work focuses on the production and interpretation of the visual images of popular performers across the diaspora.BECK, LATOYA
lbeck01@berkeley.edu
LaToya received her B.A. (cum laude) in International Studies and a Certificate in International Journalism from Hamline University in 2003. Her work focuses on issues of performance, Diaspora, and representation in India and on the commodification and circulation of Afro-Indian performance and religious aesthetics in the global market of folk and tribal culture. Her current dissertation project titled, “Performing Racial Identity in Postcolonial India: Sidis, Blackness, and Diaspora,” is an ethnographic exploration of the constitution of subjectivity and African Diaspora in India. It considers the ways in which members of the Afro-Indian community known as Sidis use performance to make a place for themselves within the social fabric of Gujarat, India.CLITANDRE, NADEGE T.
nayadou@berkeley.edu
Born in Haiti and raised in New York, Nadège T. Clitandre earned a BA in English Literature at Hampton University in 1999. After receiving her MA in the Humanities at the University of Chicago in 2000, Clitandre spent a year teaching at Université Caraïbe in Haiti. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in African Diaspora Studies with a designated emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality. A Ford Fellow, Clitandre explores the representation of Caribbean diasporic and migratory identities in contemporary novels. She is also interested in framing the works of Haitian writers such as Edwidge Danticat and Jan J. Dominique from a transnational feminist lens. To balance out the rigors of academic life, Clitandre writes poetry and enjoys international music and dance.CRUTCHFIELD, MALIKA
mcrutchfield@berkeley.edu
Malika received her B.A. in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College in 2004. After graduation she worked as an editor at an educational publishing house, editing history and language arts text books for public elementary schools. Her current research interests include South African history and culture, film of Africa and the African Diaspora, and the dynamics of race and gender in radical movements in the United States.CRUZ, ARIANE
arcruz@berkeley.edu
Ariane received her B.A from Stanford University in the Practice of Art (painting and drawing) and African American Studies. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in African Diaspora Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where she also received her M.A. She maintains a scholarly interest in black visuality and images of the black female body. Her dissertation, explores visual representations of the black female body in contemporary American pornography, also reflecting her research interest in black female sexuality. She is a member of the designated emphasis program in Women, Gender, and Sexuality at UC Berkeley.DAUTRICOURT, SAFIYA
safiyalyles@yahoo.com
Safiya earned her B.A. in Anthropology at George Mason University and an M.A in African American & African Studies from The Ohio State University. Her Master’s thesis, The African Diaspora: Autobiographies Theorizing ‘In-Between Spaces’ employed a comparative, autobiographical framework to discern concepts of literature as a ‘weapon’ and identity politics as expressed in the Negritude, Creole, and Black Power movements. Her additional interests include migrations of Somalis to the United States and Europe.DEETZ, KELLEY
deetz@berkeley.edu
Kelley Deetz, Ph.D. Candidate.
Kelley has a B.A. in Black Studies and History from the College of William and Mary, and a M.A. in African American Studies from U.C. Berkeley. She is both a historical archaeologist and historian who specializes in slavery in the American south. Her dissertation explores the lives of enslaved cooks in colonial and antebellum Virginia.
FINLEY, JESSYKA "J"
jfinley@berkeley.edu
J graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst,MA with a BA in Social Justice and Legal Studies. J's research interests are social movements, historical narratives of race and reparations. J is also interested in the connection between Southern slave plantations and modern day Black ghettos.FRAZIER, ROBESON TAJ
fraziert@berkeley.edu
Taj received his B.A. in African American Studies and International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests include both 20th century African American and African Diaspora Radicalism and the politics of culture and political economy in black urban communities and in black music and art. Currently, his intended dissertation topic is an examination of the influence of China and Maoism on several black radicals of the 1950s-1970s. >GOMER, JUSTIN
jgomer@berkeley.edu
Justin received his B.A. in African American Studies from the University of California at Berkeley in 2007. He wrote an undergraduate honors thesis about whiteness in cultural forms, namely the films Glory and Dangerous Minds and the monument to Robert Gould Shaw in Boston. His research interests include race and film, race and memory, and whiteness.HOY, VIELKA CECILIA
vielkahoy@berkeley.edu
Vielka researches the African Diaspora in Latin America, specifically Central America, with respect to ethnic and racial identification and revolutionary governments. Vielka is a graduate of New York University (B.S. in Social Studies Education) and UCLA (M.A. in Afro-American Studies).JACKSON, ZAKIYYAH
zakiyyah@berkeley.edu
Zakiyyah graduated from The Ohio State University in Women’s Studies and Political Science with a focus on Black and U.S. Third World Feminisms. Her current research explores representations of Blackness and monstrosity in Literature and Visual Culture. She maintains a scholarly interest in Psychoanalysis, Philosophies of Race, Phenomenology, Ethics, Feminism, Queer Theory and Histories of the Human.JOHNSON, JASMINE
jasminej@berkeley.edu
Jasmine received her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in African American Studies in 2006 and was the class valedictorian. Her senior thesis focused on one of the world’s oldest black bookstores, Marcus Books, and analyzed its role as a community institution. Her primary research interest is black performance, specifically black dance.KAUR, JASMINDER
jasminder@berkeley.edu
Jasminder is originally from Singapore and received her undergraduate degree in Sociology at the University of Manchester in England. Her current research interests are in the areas of queer theory, transexuality and performance. She hopes to explore notions of blackness through comparative studies of race and sexuality.LEEDS, ASIA
asialeeds@hotmail.com
Asia, originally from Baltimore, Maryland, received her B.A. (cum laude) with a double major in History and International Studies from Fordham University in 2003. She spent the 2003-04 academic year as a Fulbright Scholar researching Jamaican migration to Costa Rica. Asia's research interests include early twentieth century British West Indian migration to Central America. She is most interested in Garveyism and sociopolitical organization among West Indian migrants, along with notions of blackness in the “mestizo” nations they migrated to.LEWIS, LIBBY
libbyl@berkeley.edu
Libby earned a B.A. and M.A. in African American Studies and an M.A. in Journalism from U.C. Berkeley. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in African Diaspora Studies with a Designated Emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Lewis is completing a dissertation tentatively titled, “The Monolithic Media Myth: Struggle Over Representations of 'Blackness' in Television News.” Her research explores issues of race, gender, sexuality and is informed by her experience as a print journalist and television news anchor/reporter for CBS and NBC.LOGGINS, AMEER
ameerishere@yahoo.com
My name is Ameer Hasan Loggins. I am from Richmond California. I received my bachelors degree in African American Studies at the University of California Berkeley and as you can see- I haven't left. My focus is on "hood politics" with an emphasis on using hip-hop as a tool to educate the youth in the lower class communities in the United States as well as their connection with the African Diaspora in regards to being treated as new millennium slaves in the modern era. What ever you do- do it like your grandmother asked you to do it. Peace...I'm out.LOVE, JERLINA
jerlina@hotmail.com
Jerlina Love graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2004 with a degree in Africana studies. Her research, writing and teaching straddles Africana studies and Peace Studies. She currently studies the history, theory and practice of nonviolent social activism.MAZUR, NICK
nmazur28@hotmail.com
Nick Mazur is from Oakland, CA, and graduated from U.C. Berkeley, with a B.A. double major in African American Studies and Political Science. He worked with community outreach in the Bay Area before returning to graduate school. His research interests include cultural production, identity formation, social movements, critical pedagogy and education reform. He plans to focus his research on the identity formation and cultural production of high school students in urban settings.McGEE, MICHAEL
mmcgee@berkeley.edu
Michael received his B.A. in Political Science from Brooklyn College as a City University of New York Honors College University Scholar. His tentative research interest is to examine the ways in which the institutions within U.S. society (re)produce inequalities along the axes of race, gender, sexuality, and class, and the impact that this has on the development of the identity consciousness of African Diasporic peoples located in the U.S.MILLS, IVY
ivymills@berkeley.edu
Ivy Mills received her B.A. (Summa Cum Laude) in Comparative Literature and Gender Studies from the American University of Paris, and her M.A. in African American Studies at UC Berkeley. A Fulbright-Hays recipient, she is currently in Dakar conducting dissertation research on Senegalese popular culture. Her dissertation, Sutura: The Politics of Public Disclosure in Senegalese Popular Culture, examines gendered political subjectivities through the prism of sutura, a Wolof concept that polices the boundary between public and private spheres. The dissertation is one iteration of Ivy's broader interest in the relationship among politics, culture, and the production of gender difference in Africa and the Diaspora. She has also done extensive research on black cultural politics in metropolitan France.MITCHELL, CARMEN
carmen.mitchell@berkeley.edu
Carmen received her B.A. in African American Studies from Oberlin College and an M.A. in Afro-American Studies with a concentration in Ethnomusicology from UCLA. Her graduate thesis examined the globalization and gay iconicity of black female performance in disco and house music. Future research will incorporate geographical sites of affinity between particular urban areas and conceptualized technologies of blackness and otherness in the production and dissemination of electronic dance music.NISBETT, MARIO
mnisbett@berkeley.edu
Mario received his B.A. in Social Sciences (with an emphasis in History) at the University of the Virgin Islands and M.A. in History at Morgan State University. His current research focuses on culture formation among peoples of African descent in the Americas. Additional research interest includes social movements impact on state and societal development in Africa and the African Diaspora.RANSOM, ERINN
eransom@berkeley.edu
Erinn earned her B.A. in Afro-American Studies in 2002 from UCLA, and her M.P.S. at the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University in 2004. Her thesis entitled, "Third Eyes Wide Shut: The Spectrum of Consciousness in Rap Lyrics," integrates her interests in theorizing consciousness and consciousness-raising, American popular culture and its links to ideology and consciousness development among Black youth and young adults; issues of power and representation in the entertainment industry; and the African American music tradition from the Spirituals to Hip Hop.RIDEAU, RYAN
r_rideau@hotmail.com
Ryan received his B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, with degrees in English and Ethnic Studies. I have a strong passion for hip-hop music and culture. My research interests includes modes of resistance through hip-hop music and culture, globalization as it particularly relates to the Caribbean, and popular culture.RIVERA, PETRA
petra_rivera@berkeley.edu
Petra earned her B.A. in African American Studies and a Certificate in Latin American Studies from Harvard University in 2003. Originally from Lorain, Ohio, Petra has also lived in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. Before arriving at Berkeley, she worked at a non-profit in New York City as a member of the planning committee for ACCION Academy, a small middle school in Bronx, New York. Petra's research interests include theorizing diaspora, gender, race relations and Caribbean popular music.ROLLINS, LISA MARIE
lrollins@berkeley.edu
Lisa received a BA in English Literature with a minor in Women's Studies from California State University at San Bernardino, and an MA from The Claremont Graduate University (CA). She is now in her 4 th year in UC Berkeley's Diaspora Program. Lisa Marie is the coordinator for the Erskine A. Peters Reading Room, the specialized library located in the African American Studies Department. She is currently examining the diasporic relationship between African American and Caribbean women's speculative fiction. She is interested in how the notion of hybrid diaspora functions as a framework for considering how women like Octavia Butler, Toni Cade Bambara, Maryse Conde or Nalo Hopkinson imagine new worlds, new subjectivities for the diasporic black body. Her additional research interests include new media technologies and digital filmmaking.ROYSTON, REGINALD
r.a.royston@gmail.com
Reginold is a 1998 graduate of Howard University where he majored in anthropology and philosophy. He's worked for many years as a journalist. His research interests include Black aesthetics, media and information technology. His current focus is on 'new media' and transnational racial identity.SATO, MIREI
mirei@berkeley.edu
Mirei received her B.A. in English and American Studies from Japan Women's University and an M.A. in Afro-American Studies from UCLA. She wrote a M.A. thesis entitled "I am not a racist, but...Imported Racism: A survey of Japanese Views of African Americans." Her research interests include Blacks in Asia, race in mass media and popular culture, and tourism in Harlem. She was born and grew up in Tokyo and was a journalist for Asahi Shinbun Newspaper.SCRUGGS, NATOSCHIA
nscruggs@aol.com
Natoschia received her B.A. (Cum Laude) in International Studies from York College of Pennsylvania and M.A. in Political Science from Boston University. She advanced to Ph.D. candidacy in Spring 2006 and is the recipient of Ford, Fulbright (Senegal, 2003; Egypt, 2006), Rocca, and Dean's Normative Time Fellowships. Natoschia is currently working on her dissertation, which investigates the migratory patterns of Somali women. Her research questions discourses around multiculturalism, and theories of migration and human rights while highlighting individual conceptions of citizenship and identity.WILLIAMS, GABRIELLE
ubiquity76@yahoo.com
Gabrielle received her B.A. in Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts from The New School in NYC in May of 2006. Her research interests include: the interplay between between race, diet, and class; the potential for and impact of internalized systems of domination; and, the influence of racial categorization/marginalization in the construction of identity.WILLIAMS II, RONALD C.
ronaldcwilliams@gmail.comB.A. Political Science, San Diego State University
M.A. Political Science, Howard University
M.A. African American Studies, University of California, BerkeleyRonald’s research focuses on African Americans in international affairs. His teaching interests include all areas of African American politics, racism and education, and African American political and social thought.
