2022 Instructors
Dr. Nah Dove is an Africologist in the department of Africology at Temple University. She earned her Doctorate in American Studies with a focus on African American Studies, Native American Studies, Women's Studies/Black Women, Education/Black children, U.S Studies and Cultural Studies at State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo. She gained her M.Sc. in Sociology with a focus on African Education from the Institute of Education, University of London, UK. She has been teaching African and African American Studies on and off for 30 years. She has taught at Penn State, Medgar Evers, Temple, and SUNY Buffalo.
Dr. Reynaldo Anderson is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at Temple University in the department of Africology and African American Studies. Dr. Anderson’s work has been the subject of Time magazine, the BBC, and other national and international publication about Afrofuturism. Reynaldo is currently the executive director and co-founder of the Black Speculative Arts Movement (BSAM), an international network of artists, intellectuals, creatives, and activists. He is the co-editor of the following anthologies and journals, Afrofuturism 2.0: The Rise of Astro-Blackness and The Black Speculative Arts Movement: Black Futurity, Art+Design (Lexington Books, 2015, 2019), Cosmic Underground: A Grimoire of Black Speculative Discontent (Cedar Grove Publishing, 2018), Black Lives, Black Politics, Black Futures, a special issue of TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies (2018), and When is Wakanda: Afrofuturism and Dark Speculative Futurity (The Journal of Futures Studies, 2019). He is also the author of numerous articles on Africana Studies and Communication studies and helped conceive the joint BSAM and NY LIVE Arts Curating the End of the World online exhibitions on the Google Arts platform (2020-2022). Reynaldo is the co-editor of The Lovecraft Country Reader, forthcoming in 2022-23. Furthermore, Dr. Anderson’s latest exhibition The Black Angel of History Myth-Science, Metamodernism and the Metaverse is curated in the Zankel theater of Carnegie Hall and on the Google Arts Platform. Currently, Dr. Anderson is a member of the curatorial council for the Carnegie Hall Afrofuturism festival in New York City in February and March 2022.
Feminista Jones is an author, activist, public speaker, podcaster, and consultant. She is the founder of Sankofa Summer School and committed to liberation through education and enlightenment. Feminista is a PhD student at Temple University and her research interests include Hip Hop culture, LGBTQ identity, African American cinema, gender equity, social work and mental health, and socioeconomic justice advocacy.
Dr. Feylyn Lewis grew up as youth caregiver for her disabled mother. In 2013, she moved to the United Kingdom to obtain her PhD in Social Work, studying young adult caregivers in the US and UK. Currently, Dr. Lewis is the program manager for the Students for Health Equity program at Vanderbilt University’s School of Nursing, while also continuing to practice as an independent researcher and consultant. She is a Caregiving.com Champion, representing caregivers in the Nashville area. Dr. Lewis served as the Hunt Research Director at the National Alliance for Caregiving during spring 2021. Dr. Lewis recently completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at the University of Sussex, where she co-led the United Kingdom research activities of a nearly €4 million European Commission funded research project to investigate the mental health well-being of adolescent young caregivers in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Slovenia, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Prior to her research career, she was a nationally certified mental health counselor. She presently sits on the board of trustees for the Carers Centre for Brighton and Hove (UK), the National Advisory Council for the American Association of Caregiving Youth (US), and numerous international research advisory committees. She resides in Nashville where she continues to provide care for her mother.
Adam Mohr (Seattle, WA) is the creator of Boycott Society, a zine publication in collaboration with Cold Cube Press (Seattle, WA), a project in which social topics are explored through the lens of bootlegging. For example, changing the ‘iconic’ Nike ‘just do it’ image to say ‘Constant Therapy’. Outside of that, Adam works to build spaces where men can process and build a critical analysis of patriarchy for the purpose of adopting practices that aren’t patriarchal.
Kamala Miller-Lester is the Research Lead for Where is My Land? a national organization and movement dedicated to helping Black People discover, search for, identify, and reclaim land taken from them over the past 400 years. Prior to joining WIML, she worked as an attorney for a major law firm in Washington, DC. Kamala has previously worked as an adoptions counselor for TN Children's Services, an associate at a law firm in the US Virgin Islands, and as a Project Manager at SEIU. She has served as a volunteer for the Election Protection Hotline and as a legal observer for social justice actions in the Washington, DC area. Kamala holds a Bachelor's degree from Smith College, a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the University of Memphis, and a JD from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. She also participated in a study abroad program at Universidade Federal da Bahia in Salvador, Brazil. Kamala is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, and proficient in American Sign Language.
Michael Wilson is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Africology and African American Studies at Temple University. His research interests revolve around the relationship between ancestral memory, memorialization and counter-archival practices throughout the African diaspora, particularly among artists of Caribbean descent. Michael has a strong interest in using the museum space and curatorial practices to merge his disciplinary background of Black Studies and Art History. He is currently a Curatorial Fellow at the African American Museum in Philadelphia in addition to previously being a Fulbright Fellow and two-time Nelson Mandela Museum Fellow recipient. His publication contributions include the edited volume New Frontiers in the Study of the Global African Diaspora by Michigan State University Press and the monogram "Visible Man: Fahamu Pecou".
Leslie Mac is a Brooklyn-born & raised Organizer, seasoned Digital Strategist & Communications expert. Via her firm LM Consulting, she helps her clients create diverse, imaginative campaigns and branding that are action-oriented and impact-focused on inclusivity and justice-minded content. She began her digital organizing focus by founding the Ferguson Response Network in 2014. Leslie was the founding Chair of the Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism Organizing Collective Board and stays busy as Communications Director for The Frontline. In 2016 Leslie co-founded Safety Pin Box, which was featured in NY Magazine, The Daily Show, Vice News & more. She has been named to Essence Magazine’s list of 100 Woke Women, BlogHer’s 2017 Voice of the Year for Impact, and a 2020 Election All-Star by BET. She also speaks nationally & conducts anti-racism audits and training to support institutions in the work of dismantling systemic white supremacy. Recent clients include BYP100, Black Feminist Future, In Our Own Voices, Articulate, UMass Amherst, Giving Gap, Meadville Lombard Theological School, Canvas8, and The Advancement Project. You can read more about her personal story here in this Essence magazine feature: https://www.essence.com/black-history-month-2019/leslie-mac-grassroots-organizer-connector-facilitator-and-advocate/ For more information visit LeslieMac.com
L. Joy Williams is a highly sought-after political strategist, public speaker, and social justice activist. She is host and creator of the Image Award nominated show #SundayCivics, is the President of Brooklyn NAACP and serves as the Legislative Director of the NAACP New York State Conference. With well over a decade of experience in politics, and over fifteen years in public speaking, L. Joy has made a name for herself as a respected, intelligent voice in modern politics.
Kenneth Avery, Jr. is a second year MA student in Temple University's Africology & African American Studies Program focusing on sexuality and communication. His research engages Africology, communication studies, and culture to explore international and intercultural communication. Particularly, he is interested in examining the ways in which Africa and the west negotiate identity, and the ways European and Arabic imposition historically and contemporarily impact cultural expression and identity formations of people of African descent. Kenneth received his MA in Teaching from the University of Central Arkansas and a BS in Communication with a minor in African & African American Studies from the University of Central Arkansas. He has taught high school English and Oral Communication for three years. Kenneth is from Stuttgart, Arkansas where he was raised by his parents, grandparents, and siblings.
Courtney Carr is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Africology and African American Studies at Temple University. She received a Master of Arts degree in Pan African Studies from Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Africana Studies from Cornell University. Courtney’s research interests include nongovernmental organization (NGO) discourse, transnational feminism(s), and unpacking narrative formulations about women impacted by female genital cutting.
Michelle Castel (she/they) hails from the South Bronx and is of Haitian descent. They graduated from CUNY Lehman College with a B.A. in Psychology and is currently receiving their M.A. in Africology and African American Studies at Temple University. Michelle is an avid reader and researcher who centers the Haitian community within her work through the collection of oral histories and ethnographic research.
Hope Dove is a PhD student and TA in the Africology department at Temple University. She holds a BSc Honors in Psychology from London South Bank University, with a focus on the construction of Race and Racism and the subsequent social and cultural implications, and an MA in Cultural Studies from Goldsmiths University of London, with a focus on Decoloniality. As well as carrying out cultural and psychological research working with elementary school children in both mainstream and African centered schools, she has worked for a not-for-profit organization in London, working with teenage boys in an underserviced community, developing workshops on cultural awareness and identity. Her teaching philosophy is that learning is a lifelong process, and I encourage my students to embrace this to enrich their experiences throughout life. It is imperative to be opened to learning and growth so that one does not become rigid in their thoughts and ideas in a way that can be detrimental to their understanding of the world or limit their ability to seek Truth and Knowledge.