Curriculum Vitae

 

Education

Columbia University (New York, NY)
Ph.D. Candidate in History.
Examination Fields: Colonial U.S. history, 19th Century U.S. history, 20th Century U.S. history, &  Islam in America
M.Phil., in History, February 2007.
M.A., in History, June 2003.    

Harvard University (Cambridge, MA)
B.A., cum laude in Afro-American Studies, June 1994.

Publications

  • “Return to Roots: African Americans Return to Islam Through Many Paths,” Islamic Horizons (July/August 2005): 16-35.
  • “The Message and the Messenger: The Impact of Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam on the Million Man March,” Koinonia 12 (Spring 2000): 33-42.

Grants, Fellowships & Awards

  • Muslims in New York City Project Research Grant, Fall 2003 – Spring 2004.
  • Social Science Research Council – Mellon-Mays Pre-Doctoral Research Grant, Fall 1999, Fall 2003, Fall 2004.
  • George E. Haynes Graduate Merit Fellowship, Fall 2001 – Spring 2002.
  • Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, Fall 1992 – Spring 1994.
  • Pluralism Project: World Religions in America Research Grant, Summer 1992.
  • Ford Foundation Grant for Undergraduate Research, Summer 1992.

Teaching

  • “The American Experience” Lecture Course (Instructor), New York University, Paul McGhee Liberal Arts Programs. Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009.
  • “Islam in the African American Experience” Upper-Level Seminar (Instructor), Columbia University, Institute for Research in African-American Studies. Spring 2008, Spring 2009.
  • “The American Experience” Online Distance Learning Course (Instructor), New York University, Paul McGhee Liberal Arts Programs. Summer 2008.
  • “Islam in the African American Experience” Upper Level Lecture Course (Instructor), Rutgers University-Newark Campus, Department of African American and African Studies.  Fall 2005.
  • “Black Leadership in American Politics” (Teaching Assistant), Columbia University, Institute for Research in African-American Studies. Spring 2006.
  • “Introduction to African-American Studies” (Teaching Assistant), Columbia University, Institute for Research in African-American Studies. Fall 1999, Fall 2000, Fall 2005.
  • “Topics in the Black Experience: Malcolm X” (Teaching Assistant), Columbia University, Institute for Research in African-American Studies. Spring 2001, Spring 2004, Spring 2005.
  • “Jazz & the American Political Imagination” (Teaching Assistant), Columbia University, Institute for Research in African-American Studies. Fall 2004.
  • “Black Intellectual History” (Teaching Assistant), Columbia University, Institute for Research in African-American Studies. Spring 2000.

Presentations

  • “The Nation of Islam’s Mosque No. 7,” presented at the 27th Annual Conference on New York State History, New York, NY, June 2006.
  • “From ‘So-Called American Negro’ to ‘Bilalian’: The Construction of an Alternative National Identity for African American Muslims,” presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association, Philadelphia, PA, January 2006.
  • “‘Black Mecca’: The Nation of Islam’s Mosque No. 7 and Islam in New York City,” presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, San Antonio, TX, November 2004.
  • “The Diversity of African-American Islam in New York,” presented at “Discovering America,” Fall 1992 Conference of the Pluralism Project: World Religions in America, sponsored by the Committee on the Study of Religion, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, October 1992.

Multimedia Projects

Research Projects & Consultations

  • Research Consultant, The White House Butler Project, feature-length film in development by Sony /Columbia Pictures about the life of Eugene Allen, African American butler who served in the White House from 1953 to 1984. Summer 2009 – Present.
  • Senior Advisor, New Muslim Cool, full-length documentary film broadcast on PBS television as part of 2009-2010 "POV" season.  Spring 2005 – Present.  
  • Project Manager / Associate Editor / Lead Researcher, Malcolm X Project, a comprehensive research and archival project on the life of Malcolm X, at Columbia University. Spring 2000 – Spring 2009.