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Faculty & Staff

Faculty

 

 

Eric A. HurleyEric Hurley
Professor of Africana Studies (Chair) and Psychological Science
PhD, Howard University
Research Interests:  Culture, cognitive development and minority education; communalism, verve, culture within and between global diasporas; group processes; interactions of race/ethnicity
and culture
Courses/teaching interests: Culture and Human Development: African Diaspora, Psychology of the Black Experience, Introduction to Psychological Science, Senior Seminar in African Studies, Educational as Freedom: Education as Capture. 
Email: eric_hurley@pomona.edu
Profile: www.pomona.edu/directory/people/eric-hurley
Published Works

 

 


 

Fazia AitelFazia Aitel
Associate Professor of Modern Languages, Affiliate Faculty in Africana Studies
PhD, Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York
Research Interests:  Francophone literature from Africa and especially North Africa; Berber studies; immigration in France; women’s writing in France and North Africa; African cinema; nationalism; postcolonial theory and globalization
Teaching Interests:  French language and literature; comparative literature
Email:  Fazia.Aitel@claremontmckenna.edu
Profile: www.cmc.edu/academic/faculty/profile/fazia-aitel

 

 


Ted BatholomewTed Bartholomew, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychology, Affiliate Faculty in Africana Studies
PhD, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Research interests: Beliefs about mental illness and treatment, mental illness and suicide in Namibia, well-being and distress in US refugee communities, psychotherapy process and outcome, multicultural counseling, research methods
Teaching interests: Psychopathology, cross-cultural/cultural/multicultural psychology, research methods, practice and theory of psychotherapy
Email: tbarthol@scrippscollege.edu
Profile: www.scrippscollege.edu/academics/faculty/profile/Ted-Bartholomew
Personal Website: https://tedbartholomew.wixsite.com/tbartholomew

 


Tia BlassingameTia Blassingame
Assistant Professor of Book Arts/ Director of Scripps College Press, Affiliate Faculty in Africana Studies
Department: Art
MFA, Printmaking, Rhode Island School of Design
MA, Book Arts, Corcoran College of Art & Design
Research Interests: Artist’s books, printmaking, social justice in Book Arts, Black bookworks, African American History, racism and stereotypes in the US, hand papermaking
Teaching Interests: Letterpress, artist’s books, printmaking, social justice/practice in Book Arts, race/identity practice in Book Arts, papermaking, experimental printmaking, Black bookworks
Email: TBlassin@Scrippscollege.edu
Profile: www.scrippscollege.edu/academics/faculty/profile/tia-blassingame
Published Works

 


Alicia BonaparteAlicia Bonaparte
Associate Professor of Sociology, Affiliate Faculty in Africana Studies
PhD, Vanderbilt University
Research Interests:  Lay health practitioners; racial health disparities; teenage pregnancy and infant mortality; reproductive health rights and ethics
Teaching Interests:  Sociology of health and medicine; African American social theory; sociology of deviance
Email:  Alicia_Bonaparte@pitzer.edu
Profile: www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/alicia-bonaparte/
Published Works

 

 

 


Fely Catan
Assistant Professor of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Affiliate Faculty in Africana Studies
Email: Fely_Catan@pitzer.edu
Bio: Fély Catan was born and raised in Paris, France, from a Guadeloupean family. She earned a BA in Spanish Arts at the Sorbonne Université in 2009. She pursued her studies at the University of Texas at Brownsville where she graduated with a MA in Spanish in 2011. These years spent on the border region of the Rio Grande Valley developed in her an interest in transnational studies and questions related to identities and belongings. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison she earned a master’s degree in French literature in 2014. At the University of Miami, Florida, she was able to combine her interest in both languages and cultures by pursuing a PhD in Romance languages with a concentration in Caribbean studies. Her current research interests include: Contemporary Caribbean narratives, Caribbean popular culture particularly that of the Francophone/Creolophone and Hispanophone Caribbean, colonial and postcolonial theory, decolonial studies, nation and (non)-sovereignty, migration and transnational studies.

 


J Finley
Assistant Professor of Africana Studies

PhD, University of California, Berkeley

Email: J.Finley@pomona.edu
Bio: Dr. J Finley is an interdisciplinary scholar who studies black women’s history, performance, and cultural expression. Her current research focuses on the performative and political efficacy of black women’s humor and comedy. Specifically, Dr. Finley conducts ethnographic fieldwork and applies multidisciplinary readings of humor and comedic materials, paying close attention to how various aspects of history, identity and experience influence and saturate black women’s comedy. Her manuscript-in-progress examines the historical and contemporary landscape of black women’s humor to better understand comedians and their comedy as wide-ranging in terms of expressive tactics and themes, yet cohesive as a genre of black expressive culture. Additionally, her work examines black feminist theory and politics, and the challenges presented to black women across space, time, and political orientation.

Dr. Finley’s teaching interests include black feminist theories, popular culture, struggles for black liberation, and humor studies. In addition to teaching courses on the history and theoretical aspects of stand-up comedy, she also teaches her students the practice of stand-up comedy based on her own experience as an amateur performer, and her experience and knowledge from working with professional comedians and comedy educators.


 

Laura HarrisLaura Harris
Professor of Africana Studies and English and World Literature, and Chair, Africana Studies
PhD, University of California, San Diego
Research Interests:  20th century African American literature and culture; feminist and queer
theory; Harlem Renaissance studies; African diaspora studies; performance studies
Teaching Interests:  20th century African American literature and culture; feminist and queer
theory; Harlem Renaissance studies
Email:  Laura_Harris@pitzer.edu
Profile: www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/laura-harris/

 

 

 


Amanda Lagji
Assistant Professor of English and World Literature, Affiliate Faculty in Africana Studies
PhD, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Research interests: Postcolonial literature, South African literature, contemporary Anglophone African fiction, time and temporality
Courses/teaching interests: Post-Apartheid Novels, Growing Up Postcolonial, World Literature
Email: ALagji@pitzer.edu
Profile: www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/amanda-lagji/
Webpage: www.amandarwlagji.com
Published Works

 

 


Jessica KizerJessica Kizer, PhD
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Affiliate Faculty in Africana Studies
PhD, University of California, Irvine
909 607.3374
Email: jessica_kizer@pitzer.edu
Profile: https://www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/jessica-kizer/

 

 

 

 

 


Mukasa MubirumusokeMukasa Mubirumusoke
Assistant Professor of Africana Studies

PhD, Emory University

Mubirumusoke’ s research and teaching interests are rooted in black critical theory and include Africana philosophy, politics, ethics, and aesthetics.

Email: mmubirumusoke@cmc.edu
Profile: www.cmc.edu/academic/faculty/profile/mukasa-mubirumusoke
Published Works

 

 


Carolyn RatterayCarolyn Ratteray
Assistant Professor of Theatre,  Affiliate Faculty in Africana Studies
Masters of Fine Arts University of San Diego/The Old Globe
Research Interests:  Works in theatre, TV, and voiceover in the greater Los Angeles area
Teaching Interests:  Acting Technique and Scene Study, Improvisation, Shakespeare, TV & Film
Email:carolyn.ratteray@pomona.edu
Profile: www.pomona.edu/directory/people/carolyn-ratteray
Website: https://carolynratteray.com

 

 

 


Luis Josue SalesLuis Josué Salés
Assistant Professor and Chair of Religious Studies, Affiliate Faculty in Africana Studies
PhD, Fordham University
Research Interests: Ancient African christianities (Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia), sex and gender in early/medieval Christianity, medieval Roman Empire, early Christian-Muslim relations, postcolonial/queer theory, Christianity, ethics, and economics
Courses: Queer African Christianities; Precolonial African Christian Spiritualities; Jesus, Paul, and Early Christian Sexualities; Eros and Sex: Antiquity and “Byzantium”; Early Christian-Muslim Relations; Feminist Interpretations of the Bible; Christianity, Capital, and Communism; Conquered and Colonized Christianities; Intro to Early Christianities; Ethics, Truth, and Postmodern Metaphysics
Profile: www.scrippscollege.edu/academics/faculty/profile/luis-josue-sales
Email: lsales@scrippscollege.edu

 

 


Marie Denise Shelton

Marie-Denise Shelton
Professor of Modern Languages and Africana Studies
PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
Research Interests:  Caribbean literature; Haitian literature; women writers; Modern French literature
Teaching Interests:  Modern French Literature; African & Caribbean Literature and Cinema; Caribbean society and culture
Email:  Marie-Denise.Shelton@claremontmckenna.edu

 

 

 


 

Derik Smith

Derik Smith
Associate Professor of Literature, Affiliate Faculty in Africana Studies
PhD, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Email: Derik.Smith@ClaremontMcKenna.edu
Profile: www.cmc.edu/academic/faculty/profile/derik-smith

 

 

 

 

 


Maryan SolimanMaryan Soliman
Assistant Professor of Africana Studies
PhD, University of Pennsylvania
Research Interests: African American history; Marxism; the black freedom movement; labor organizing; southern history
Teaching Interests: Black political thought; social movements; working-class dissent
Email:  msoliman@scrippscollege.edu
Profile: https://www.scrippscollege.edu/academics/faculty/profile/maryan-soliman

 

 


Makhroufi Ousmane TraoreMakhroufi Ousmane Traoré
Assistant Professor of History and Africana Studies
PhD, University of Sorbonne-Paris IV
Research Interests:  Slavery in Africa, Trans-Saharan and Trans-Atlantic W\worlds of slavery, imperialism and colonialism in Africa, African Diaspora
Teaching Interests:  Early modern Africa, society and Islam in sub-Saharan Africa, slavery in Africa, Trans-Saharan and Trans-Atlantic worlds of slavery, Imperialism and empire
Email:  makhroufi.traore@pomona.edu
Profile: www.pomona.edu/directory/people/makhroufi-ousmane-traore

 

 


Vanessa TysonVanessa Tyson
Assistant Professor of Politics, Affiliate Faculty in Africana Studies
PhD,  Political Science, University of Chicago
Research Interests:  US Congress; race, ethnicity and politics; US domestic policy; sexual violence; inequality
Teaching Interests:  Black Americans and the political system; gender and public policy; inequality and public policy; environmental policy
Email:  vanessa.tyson@scrippscollege.edu
Profile: www.scrippscollege.edu/academics/faculty/profile/vanessa-tyson
Published Works

 

 

 


Staff

Liinda DeChaineAdministrative Coordinator: Linda DeChaine
Email: Linda_DeChaine@pitzer.edu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Office Assistants: Mara Burns, Antonio Gody, Ariel Lewis, Karease Williams


Emeriti Faculty

Dipannita Basu
Sociology and Africana Studies, Pitzer College

Gwendolyn Lytle
Professor of Music, Pomona College

Halford Fairchild
Psychology and Africana Studies, Pitzer College

Sidney J. Lemelle
History and Africana Studies, Pomona College

Samella Lewis
Art and Art History, Scripps College

Dean McHenry
Politics, Claremont Graduate University

Sheila Walker
Psychology, Scripps College
Profile:www.scrippscollege.edu/academics/faculty/profile/Sheila-Walker
Published Works