Research Opportunities

Faculty in the Department of African American Studies submit external and internal research funding applications, and work towards using research to enhance the understanding of the African, African American and the African Diaspora people and society within our global reality.

Faculty Research and Publications

Faculty members in the WIU's Department of African American Studies have many research interests and have published in many areas of local, national and international relevance. From studies about Black men, the education of the Black women, African thoughts, folklore and performance, Womenist theory and perspectives, postcolonial theory and the Africana world, to several other areas of interest.

The following is an example of specific faculty's interests:

Safoura Boukar: American Studies/Women Studies; Women of African Descent Experiences; Feminist and Womanist Theories; Anglophone and Francophone African Studies and International Institutions.
Alphonso Simpson: African American Music; African American Religion; Black Popular Culture; Black Male, Black Male/Female Relationships; and Multicultural Studies.
Audrey Watkins: Education of Africans in Diaspora; Social Justice Education; Transnationalism of Caribbean Women; Christian Values in Schooling and Education; and Education of Women of Color.
Abdul-Rasheed Na'Allah: African Performance; Black Identity; Islam and Africanity; The Black Writer.
Jo-Ann Morgan: Representation of African Americans in American Visual Culture; American Americans in Film; Imagery of Black Power; and Nineteenth Century Popular Culture.

Recent faculty publications include Jo-Ann Morgan, "Uncle Tom's Cabin as Visual Culture" (University of Missouri, 2007) winner of the 2008 Peter Seaborg Award for Civil War Nonfiction; Alphonso Simpson, "When Culture Sings: the Teaching and Learning Methodologies of Afro-American children in the Educational and Religious Setting ..." (2004); Audrey Watkins, "Education From All of Life for All of Life: Getting an Education at Home--Precept on Precept, Line on Line" (2004); Abdul-Rasheed Na'Allah, "Ahmadu Fulani: African Poetry" (2004); and Safoura Boukari, "How the politics of dependency and globalization widened the gap between rich and poor: The Case of Togolese Women" (2003).

Teacher and Student Undergraduate Research

The Department strongly encourages undergraduate and graduate research and has a policy of encouraging AAS faculty to collaborate with students on research, scholarly presentations and community development projects. The department encourages undergraduate students to apply for the College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research awards.

Other Department Research & Publications

Faculty members continue to present scholarly papers in conferences around the world and engage in professional dialogues in local communities, churches, Black neighborhoods in Western Illinois region and across the state of Illinois.

Recent Faculty Conference Presentations

Alphonso Simpson, "One Ever Feels his Two-ness: A Critical Perusal of Blackness in America--What it is and…what it aint," National Council for Black Studies, Atlanta (March 2008); "The Color of My Class, The Class of my Color: Teaching African American Studies on a Predominately White College Campus," National Council for Black Studies, San Diego (March 2007).
Jo-Ann Morgan, "Baby Mama or Muslim Militant? How American Media Campaigned to Define and Contain Michelle Obama," International Potitical Science Conference, Santiago, Chile (July 2009); session chair on African American Art, Southeastern College Art Conference, New Orleans (September 2008); "Visual Culture in African American Studies," National Association of African American Studies, Baton Rouge (February 2008).

Department of African American Studies

Western Illinois University