My current activities involves field research and service in Colombia, South America. The nature these activities focus on internally displaced Afro-descendent rural peasant communities on the Pacific Coast region. That research investigates questions related to peace and human rights education, and the lived experiences of Afro-descended rural peasant communities victimized by political and social violence. I am hoping soon to extend my field research to other countries with Afro-descended populations in North and South America, and the Caribbean.
I am especially excited about the work I do because there is great correspondence and synergy between my research interests and my teaching and service. The service that I do with human rights NGOs in Latin America brings me in direct contact with the issues and communities of interest to me and informs my research and scholarship, service and teaching. In addition to teaching in the Social and Cultural Foundations Masters Program (School of Education), I teach courses in the Peace Studies Program, and developed a Honors Course: Memory, Testimony and Pedagogy. My book Race, Culture and the City: A Pedagogy of Urban Struggle was the recipient of the Gustavus Myer’s Outstanding Book on the Subject of Human Rights in North America. I have written numerous articles on social memory, Africana philosophy and thought, philosophy of education, and critical race studies. I serve as a Co-Editor of the Taylor Francis (Routledge) quarterly peer review publication, The Journal of Poverty: Innovations on Social, Political & Economic Inequalities.
My activities as Vincent de Paul professor include participating on the university’s Honor Society Committee, and working with DePaul colleagues Joseph Ferrari, a Vincent de Paul professor, Father Patrick McDevitt, CM, Ph.D. and the Midwest Congregation to create the "Vincentian Institute on Clergy Counseling and Support" [VICCS]. The goal is to work with clergy in Tengaza Kenya to provide spiritual, emotional, social, and personal life.