“I see myself as a facilitator helping students to think about history as a practice, whether they pursue it as a major or not.”
What are your areas of research and teaching expertise?
I am a professor of African American History, trained in the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary field of African American Studies, as well as a sport historian. I push students to grapple with not only what Black History is but what it does. My research focuses on what we can learn about the 1980s – the Reagan Era – through the perspectives of Black college football players from the University of Miami, also known as the “Team of the 1980s.”
What is your teaching style?
I see myself as a facilitator helping students to think about history as a practice, whether they pursue it as a major or not. I wrote recently in an op-ed, “History is not merely a collection of facts… It is a discussion about what events get included in the historical record and why, about how historians have interpreted and debated those events, and about how approaches and ideas change over time.” As a colleague of mine has said more beautifully, we challenge students to think about how power, privilege, and perspective inform the practice of history and how as recorders of the present and consumers of the past it is our job to ask questions about who is at the table and not, and why. We talk a lot about hidden and hard histories, specific to Black History and the histories available on the Black athlete in America.
Describe your “lightbulb moment.”
I attended a small liberal arts college in Indiana. My dad, a high school counselor, encouraged me to take a class I couldn’t take in high school, and I enrolled in Intro to Black Studies. It was the first class I had ever taken that centered the Black experience in America and challenged me to think more deeply about my own historical context. I was raised right outside Gary, Indiana, in a place known as the Region which remains one of the most segregated parts of the U.S. That class led me to pursue work after college with Teach for America, which allowed me to work in a Black community in St. Louis and stand witness to the institutional racism that shapes K-12 inner city education. It inspired me to return to the classroom in higher ed so I could share history through the eyes of Black Americans and teach students how to use that history to shape how they work, live, think through information, and perhaps vote in the present.
What do you enjoy outside the classroom?
I love spending time with my children and partner, going to sporting events and watching movies.
What tips do you have for student success?
Many students define success as an A. I work very hard in my classroom to move beyond traditional metrics for success and focus on how curiosity, an open mind, and empathy can transform our lives. I think the key to student success is for students to ruminate on what success means to them and to what end. Then build from there. If you value tough conversations, have them. If success is about building community, then start one or join one that shares your values or challenges you to see the world in a new light. If you value academic success, be the student who is present at every academic opportunity possible. If success is excelling in a sport, join a team and think about what it means to be a good teammate.
What campus traditions are your favorite?
I love watching students come back for events like Homecoming, to see how the past and the present is constantly converging.
What is your favorite author/book?
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
What is your favorite class to teach?
Black Athlete in America
Where is your favorite place on campus/in St Peter?
The STEAMery or Lund