Amrita Chakrabarti Myers, Ph.D.
Indiana University-Department of History
742 Ballantine Hall
Bloomington, IN 47405-7103
Phone: (732) 397-5457
E-mail: [email protected]
Education
2004
1995
1993
Doctor of Philosophy in History, Rutgers University-New Brunswick
Master of Arts in History, University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada
Bachelor of Arts in Classics and History, University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada
Faculty Positions
- Associate Professor of History and Gender Studies, Indiana University, July 2012-Present
- Assistant Professor of History, Indiana University, Aug 2005-June 2012
- Assistant Professor of History, Kean University, Union, New Jersey, Sept 2001-July 2005
Additional Research and Teaching Experience
- Adjunct Professor-History, Rutgers-Newark: Afro-American History-Since 1865. Jan-May 2001.
- Lecturer-History, Rutgers-New Brunswick: United States History- To 1865. July-Aug. 2000.
- Adjunct Professor-History, Union County College: Afro-American History-To 1865. Sept-Dec. 1999.
- Lecturer-Afro-American Studies, Rutgers-Newark: Black Women in US History. July-Aug 1999.
- Teaching Assistant to Norma Basch, History, Rutgers-Newark: US History-To 1865. Sept-Dec 1998.
- Lecturer-History, Rutgers-Newark: African-American History-Since 1865. July-Aug 1998.
- Research Assistant, Stanton-Anthony Papers, Rutgers-New Brunswick, May-July 1998.
- Graduate Assistant, Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis, New Brunswick, Sept 1997-May 1998.
Monographs
Forging Freedom: Black Women and the Pursuit of Liberty in Antebellum Charleston (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 2011).
Additional Publications
- Forward, He Talk White: The Scholarly and Artistic Works of a Writer,” by Gee Joyner. Bloomington,
IN: AuthorHouse Publications, 2013. View at http://www.amazon.com/He-Talk-White-ScholarlyArtistic/dp/1491811412/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447606724&sr=11&keywords=he+talk+white
-Rainbows and Lilacs Blogpost on the Death of Trayvon Martin and the Trial of George Zimmerman:
http://rainbowsandlilacs.blogspot.com/2013/07/georgey-had-gun-one-womans-thoughts-on.html
- “Black Women, Religious Rhetoric, and the Legacy of Abraham Lincoln,” Journal of African American
History, Vol. 94 No. 4 (2009): 561-570.
- “The Bettingall-Tunno Family and the Free Black Women of Antebellum Charleston: A Freedom both
Contingent and Constrained,” in Marjorie Julian Spruill et al., eds., South Carolina Women: Their Lives
and Times, Volume One (Athens: University of Georgia, 2010): 143-167.
- “Margaret Mercer,” in American National Biography (New York: Oxford University, 1998).
- “Sisters in Arms: Slave Women and Resistance in the Antebellum South,” Past Imperfect (Edmonton:
University of Alberta, 1996).
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Awards and Honors
2016: Gender Studies Service Award, Indiana University, April 2016.
2014: Black Faculty and Staff Award, Indiana University, April 2014.
2013: Phillis Wheatley Book Prize. Awarded by the North East Black Studies Association.
2013: Black Faculty and Staff Award, Nominee, Indiana University, 2013
2012: Julia Cherry Spruill Book Prize. Awarded by the Southern Association of Women Historians.
2012: Anna Julia Cooper-C.L.R. James Book Prize. Awarded by the National Council for Black Studies.
2012: George C. Rogers, Jr. Book Prize. Awarded by the South Carolina Historical Society.
2012: Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Book Prize: Honorable Mention. Awarded by the Association of
Black Women Historians.
2011: Frances Marshall Achievement Award, for excellence in teaching and mentoring. Awarded by
Alpha Phi Alpha-Gamma Eta Chapter, Indiana University.
2009: Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Article Prize- Best Article on African American Women’s History,
for “The Bettingall-Tunno Family and the Free Black Women of Antebellum Charleston: A Freedom
Both Contingent and Constrained.” Awarded by the Association of Black Women Historians.
2009: Trustees’ Teaching Award, Department of History, Indiana University.
Fellowships and Grants
2014: Individual Research Award, Institute for Advanced Studies, Indiana University.
2013: Faculty Seed Grant, Center for Research on Race and Ethnicity in Society, Indiana University.
2012: Scholarly Research Fellowship, Kentucky Historical Society.
2012: Breaux Fellowship, Filson Historical Society.
2011: New Frontiers Exploration Traveling Fellowship, Indiana University.
2011: Conference Grant, Office of the Vice President for International Affairs, Indiana University.
2011: Travel Research Grant, College Arts & Humanities Institute, Indiana University.
2007- Conference Grant, Office of Vice President for International Affairs, Indiana University.
2007- Research Grant, Institute for Southern Studies, University of South Carolina.
2005- Travel Grant, Career Development Committee, Kean University.
2004- Travel Grant, Career Development Committee, Kean University.
2003- Travel Grant, Career Development Committee, Kean University.
2002: Travel Grant, Career Development Committee, Kean University.
2001- Mellon Fellowship, Library Company of Philadelphia.
2000- Research Fellowship, Institute for Southern Studies, University of South Carolina.
1998- Harvey Fellowship, Mustard Seed Foundation, Washington D.C.
1997- Graduate Research Fellowship, Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis.
1996- Rutgers Graduate Fellowship, Department of History.
Invited Classroom Guest Lecturer
- Spoke with Dr. Cate Taylor’s class, Indiana University, about race/gender stereotypes, February 2016
- Skyped with Dr. Jamal Ratchford’s class, Colorado College, about Forging Freedom, September 2015
- Skyped with Dr. Leslie Alexander’s class, Ohio State University, about Forging Freedom, March 2015
- Skyped with Dr. Jessica Millward’s class, UC-Irvine, about Forging Freedom, October 2013
- Skyped with Dr. Jamal Ratchford’s class, U. of Indianapolis, about Forging Freedom, September 2013
- Spoke with Dr. Dionne Danns’ class, Indiana University, about research methods, February 2013
- Spoke with Dr. Claude Clegg’s class, Indiana University, about Forging Freedom, March 2012
- Skyped with Dr. Robin Henry’s class, Wichita State University, about Forging Freedom, February 2012
- Spoke with Dr. Siobhan Carter-David’s class at Indiana University about the lives of free blacks in the
Old South and discussed my book, Forging Freedom, October 2011
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Invited Lectures on Research
- Committee of Historians for Intellectual Culture, “Hidden Histories of the Midwest,” Department of
History, Indiana University, October 2015.
- Women’s History Month Speaker, “Crossing the Freedom Frontier: Black Women in the Old South,”
Loyola Marymount University, March 12, 2015.
- Cusp of Spring Workshop, “Recovering Julia Chinn,” Institute for Advanced Studies, Indiana
University, March 6, 2015.
- Gender Studies Lecture Series, “Hidden in Plain Sight: Julia Chinn and the Challenges of
Reconstructing Black Women’s Lives,” Indiana University, September 23, 2014.
- Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis-Black Atlantic Project, “Distant Voices: Black Women and the
Challenge of Biography,” Rutgers University, April 17, 2014.
- Avery Research Center Lecture Series, “Forging Freedom: Black Women and the Pursuit of Liberty in
Antebellum Charleston,” College of Charleston, March 28, 2014.
- Hutchins Lecture, “Examining Race, Gender, and Freedom in the Old South,” University of North
Carolina-Chapel Hill Center for the Study of the American South, January 30, 2014.
- National Council for Black Studies Keynote Speaker, “Crossing the Freedom Frontier: Black Women in
the Old South,” Fairfield University-Connecticut, November 14, 2013.
- Southern Seminar Speaker, “Making A Way out of No Way: Free Black Women in the Old South,”
University of Virginia, October 10, 2013.
- “Scandalous Liaisons: Interracial Sex in Antebellum America,” University of Kentucky, April 19, 2013.
- “Risky Business: Race, Sex, and Politics in Antebellum America,” African American and African
Diaspora Studies (AAADS) Colloquium Series, Indiana University, February 25, 2013.
- “The Bettingall-Tunno Family and the Free Black Women of Antebellum Charleston: A Freedom both
Contingent and Constrained,” presented at a symposium celebrating the publication of South Carolina
Women: Their Lives and Times, University of South Carolina, June 04, 2009.
- “Gone and Often Forgotten: Free Black Women in the Antebellum South,” Drexel University,
Philadelphia, May 12, 2009.
- “For My Family’s Freedom: Sarah Martha Sanders,” Kean University Historical Society, March 2005.
- “A Missing Chapter: Free Black Women in the American South,” Whispering Knoll Assisted Living
Facility, Edison, NJ, February 2002.
Invited Talks for Professional Organizations
- “Delicate Dances: The Lives of Free Black Women in the Antebellum South,” Keynote Address,
Association of Black Women Historians Annual Meeting, Memphis, September 2014.
- “Re-examining the Meanings of Freedom: A Roundtable Discussion.” New Books/State of the Field
Session on African American History, National Council for Black Studies, Indianapolis, March 2013.
- “Thinking Black on Twenty Years of Sisterhood: African American Women’s History since the
Publication of Unequal Sisters.” 20th Anniversary Celebration of Unequal Sisters: An Inclusive Reader in
American Women's History, Newberry Library Seminar on Women & Gender, Chicago, September 2010.
- “Juggernauts and Juggling Acts: Tales from the Tenure Track,” Black Women Academics in the Ivory
Tower: Research & Praxis, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, March 2009.
- “Visionary Words: Black Women’s Rhetoric and the Ideologies of Lincoln,” Special Session, “African
Americans in O. Vernon Burton’s The Age of Lincoln,” Association for the Study of African American
Life and History, Birmingham, October 2008.
- “The Study of Slavery and the Legacy of Black Power,” Race, Roots and Resistance: Revisiting the
Legacies of Black Power, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, March 2006.
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Invited Public Lectures
- “Stereotypes of Black Women, Past and Present,” Black History Month Roundtable, Diversity In
Action, Indiana University, September 2016.
- “Do We Still Need Black Women’s History?” Black History Month Talk, Feminist Student Association,
Indiana University, February 2016.
- “Liminal Lives: Interracial Women in the Old South,” Cross-Generational Dialogues in Black Women’s
History: A Comparative Black History Symposium, Michigan State University, March 20, 2015.
- Presentation and Discussion Leader for Film Screening, “Free Angela and All Political Prisoners,”
Feminist Student Association, Indiana University, February 2015.
- “Struggling With Imposter Syndrome: Finding Your Voice and Taking a Seat at the Table,” InterVarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministry at Indiana University, Bloomington, October 13, 2014.
- “The Relevance of Black Women’s History in a ‘Post-Racial’ Society,” Legacy Speakers Series,
LeMoyne-Owen College, Memphis, March 2013.
- “Intimate Histories: ‘Progressive Era’ Tales of Race, Sex, and Ribbons in Lynn Nottage's Intimate
Apparel,” Theatre Circle Lecture, Indiana University Department of Theatre and Drama, January 2013.
- “Affirmative Action in Higher Education and the Workplace,” Affirmative Action: BLACK privilege or
WHITE Responsibility?, Gamma Eta Chapter, Alpha Phi Alpha, Indiana University, October 2012.
- “The Accomplishments of American Women,” Phenomenal Women, Phenomenally, Organized by
Sachet Watson, RA for Teter Hall, Women’s History Month Program, Indiana University, March 2012.
- “Ethnic Studies: Stories of Backlash,” Black History is AmerAKAn History, Organized by the Tau
Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Black History Month Program, Indiana University, February 2011.
- “The State of Black History in 2010 and Beyond: Is Black History Month Still Relevant or Necessary in
‘Post-Racial America’?” Indiana University, February 2010.
- “The Past isn’t Dead…It isn’t even Past: The Importance of Studying African American History,”
Austin Peay State University, Nashville, April 2007.
- Forum Co-Organizer and Presenter at panel on Race, Media, and Representation, Indiana University,
“Gender, Race and the Media in Antebellum America,” October 2005.
- “In the Belly of the Beast: Women and the Black Panther Party,” Kean University, Africana Studies 30th
Anniversary Celebration, November 2004.
- “Women of Color and the Academy,” Robert Treat Academy, Newark, NJ, March 2002.
Invited Presentations on Teaching
- “Integrating Primary Sources and Document-Based Assignments into the US Survey.” Teacher-Training
Workshop for Monroe County ACP US History Teachers, Indiana University, February 2013.
- “(Middle) American Tales: Black History, Women’s History, and the Underground Railroad.” TeacherTraining Workshop, Teaching American History Project: US Department of Education, Monroe County
Historical Society, November 2010.
Interviews
- Guest, The Marc Steiner Show: http://www.steinershow.org/podcasts/milwaukee-unrest-after-theshooting-of-sylville-smith/ Discussed protests in Baltimore and Milwaukee, August 16, 2016.
- Guest, Bring It On! WFHB 91.3FM, Bloomington, IN, July 18, 2016. http://wfhb.org/news/bring-it-onjuly-18-2016/. Discussed Bloomington’s Black Lives Matter Rally.
- Ernest Rollins, Bloomington Herald-Times, “Black Lives Matter Rally Calls for United Effort to
Confront Injustice,” http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/news/local/black-lives-matter-rally-calls-forunited-effort-to-confront/article_163a1524-4d29-55dd-94c8-91f62061eb94.html, July 18, 2016.
- Invited Speaker, Black Lives Matter Rally, Bloomington, IN, July 16, 2016. Video Upon Request.
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- Alessandro Tomich, “IU Professors Speak on Police Brutality,” Indiana Daily Student,
http://www.idsnews.com/article/2016/07/iu-professors-speak-on-police-brutality, July 13, 2016.
- Errin Whack, “Tubman Replacing Jackson on the $20 a Deeply Symbolic Move,”
http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/b2c96bdd55b844238031368625f74ac5/tubman-replacing-jackson-20deeply-symbolic-move, April 21, 2016.
- Jessica R. Key, “Banning Books Said to Prohibit Freedom of Speech, Choice,” Indianapolis Recorder
Newspaper, http://www.indianapolisrecorder.com/education/article_db571e84-57eb-11e5-85c23371240895fa.html, September 10, 2015.
- Sharon Roggenkamp, Scott County (Kentucky) Public Library Newsletter,
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs102/1112008036510/archive/1121840678622.html#LETTER.BLOC
K28, August 2015.
- Steve Hinnefeld, IU Communications, “Historian: Church Attack Makes for a Somber Juneteenth,”
http://viewpoints.iu.edu/policy-briefings/2015/06/19/historian-church-attack-makes-for-a-somberjuneteenth/, June 19, 2015.
- Douglas Storm, “The Significant Insignificance of Juneteenth,” Interchange Radio Show, WFHB
91.3/98.1 /100.7 /106.3 FM, http://wfhb.org/news/interchange-the-significant-insignificance-ofjuneteenth/, June 2015.
- Alex Lichtenstein, On-Camera Teaching Interview for “H106, US History, 1877-Present,” April 2015.
- Warren Robinson, On Camera Interview for the Documentary Film, “The Amazing Life of Georgia Mae
Spann,” March 2015. Film Premiered in Indianapolis in October 2015.
- Interviews for “It’s Not So Black and White: Talking Race, From Ferguson to Bloomington,” Black
Lives Matter Symposium, Town Hall and Justice Fair, Indiana University, March 2015:
http://inside.indiana.edu/features/stories/2015-03-05-not-so-black-and-white.shtml;
http://news.indiana.edu/releases/iu/2015/03/not-so-black-and-white.shtml;
http://news.indiana.edu/releases/iub/iu-in-the-news/dnb-03-27-2015-2.shtml.
- Bernice Bennett, “Research at the National Archives and Beyond!” Blogtalkradio, Forging Freedom,
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bernicebennett/2014/10/10/forging-freedom-amrita-chakrabarti-myersphd, October 2014.
- Amanda Marino, “Research Takes a Fresh Look at Gender Studies,” Indiana Daily Student, September
24, 2014.
- Otisha Paige, “Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome,” A Documentary Film Project, Miami, March 2014.
- Arika Easley-Houser, “New Books in African American Studies (New Books Network),” Forging
Freedom, http://newbooksinafroamstudies.com/2013/05/31/amrita-chakrabarti-myers-forging-freedomblack-women-and-the-pursuit-of-liberty-in-antebellum-charleston-unc-press-2011/, May 31, 2013.
- Hannah Waltz, Indiana Daily Student: Inside Magazine, “Abraham Lincoln: The Beard that Pioneered,”
http://www.idsnews.com/news/inside/Story.aspx?id=91109, February 12, 2013.
- “The Gerard Show,” WBOK 1230AM Black Talk Radio, New Orleans, LA, January 2013.
- Tim Evans, Indianapolis Star, “Annual Emancipation Proclamation Service Recalls Strides, Challenges
for Blacks,” http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013301020321&nclick_check=1,
January 02, 2013.
- Steve Hinnefeld, IU Communications, “Historians Comment on 150th Anniversary of Emancipation
Proclamation,” http://newsblaze.com/story/2012092014180300002.wi/topstory.html, September 20, 2012.
- Tanisha Ford, The Feminist Wire, http://thefeministwire.com/2012/08/you-betta-werk-professors-talkstyle-politics/, “You Betta Werk!: Professors Talk Style Politics,” August 28, 2012.
- Milka Denis, NEWDradio, www.blogtalkradio.com/newd (New York and Miami), “Strange Fruit: Black
Female Identity, Then and Now,” May 2009.
- Todd Bell, The Breakdown, Heaven 1580 AM (Washington, D.C.), “Antebellum Black Women’s
History,” March 2008.
- Internet Interview, Courtney Stack, “Brown vs. Board of Education: School Segregation and
Integration,” Minneapolis Middle Schools, January 2008.
- Allison M. Strang, On-Camera Interview for Documentary Film on American Feminism, July 2007.
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Presentation of Research at Conferences (Competitive)
- “Out of the Shadows: Resurrecting Julia Chinn,” Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and
History, Memphis, September 2014.
- “Out of the Shadows: Resurrecting the Voice of Julia Chinn,” Berkshire Conference on the History of
Women, Toronto, Canada, June 2014.
- “Hidden in Plain Sight: Black Women, Diaspora, and the Challenge of Biography,” Association for the
Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora, The Dominican Republic, November 2013.
- “Scandalous Liaisons: Race, Sex, and Politics in Antebellum America,” American Historical
Association, New Orleans, January 2013.
- “Rhetoric versus Reality: The Politics of Interracial Sex in the Old South,” Southern Historical
Association, Mobile, November 2012.
- “Analyzing Interracial Sex in Antebellum America,” Association for the Study of Afro-American Life
and History, Pittsburgh, September 2012.
- “Public Rhetoric, Private Realities: Debates over Interracial Sex in Antebellum America,” Association
for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora, Pittsburgh, November 2011.
- “Tales from the (Heart)land: The ‘Marriage’ of Julia Chinn and Richard Mentor Johnson,” National
Council for Black Studies, Cincinnati, March 2011.
- “Citizenship and the Politics of Perception: African American Women in Antebellum Charleston,”
Organization of American Historians, Washington, DC, April 2010.
- “To Survive and Thrive: Race and Sex in the Antebellum City,” National Council for Black Studies,
New Orleans, March 2010.
- “African American Womanhood in Antebellum Charleston,” in “Citizenship Defined, Defended,
Extended: The Politics of African American Womanhood.” A roundtable presented at the Berkshire
Conference on the History of Women, Minneapolis, June 2008.
- “Identity and Interpretation: Constructing Race in the Old South,” Association for the Study of the
Worldwide African Diaspora, Barbados, October 2007.
- “A Convoluted Chimera: Cecille Langlois Cogdell and the Nature of Race in Antebellum South
Carolina,” Caribbean Studies Association, Salvador, Brazil, May 2007.
- “A Fragile Freedom: Charleston’s Free Women of Color,” Southern Historical Association,
Birmingham, November 2006.
- “The Currency of Citizenship: Afro-American Women and the Economic Dimensions of Civic
Identity,” Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, California, June 2005.
- “‘Helpless Females’ and ‘Landholding Slaveowners’: Black Female Articulations of Freedom in
Antebellum Charleston,” American Historical Association, Seattle, January 2005.
- “Forging Freedom: Black Women and Wage Labor in Antebellum Charleston,” Association for the
Study of Afro-American Life and History, Milwaukee, September 2003.
- “Before the Bar: Race, Gender and Justice in Antebellum South Carolina,” SAWH Sixth Southern
Conference on Women’s History, Athens, Georgia, June 2003.
- “Accessing Emancipation: Black Women and Freedom in Charleston, South Carolina, 1790-1820.”
University of Memphis African-American Graduate History Conference, Memphis, October 2002.
- “Negotiating Freedom: Being Free, Black and Female in Charleston, South Carolina, 1790-1860,”
Association of Black Women’s Historians Symposium: New Scholars and Recent Research in Black
Women’s History, Washington, DC, September 2001.
- “The Place of Oral Narratives in Reconstructing History,” The Imperfect Past: A Conference Promoting
Graduate Student Scholarship, University of Alberta-Edmonton, August 1997.
- “Black Women in American History,” Warren Sussman Graduate Student Conference, Rutgers
University-New Brunswick, April 1997.
- “Resistance and Reproduction: Black and White Southern Women,” Berkshire Conference on the
History of Women, Chapel Hill, June 1996.
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Professional Lectures at Conferences (Competitive)
- Roundtable Presentation, “A Critical Engagement: Scholars Respond to Andre E. Johnson’s Literary
Archive of Henry McNeal Turner,” National Council for Black Studies, Atlanta, March 2012.
- “Who Can Teach Black History?: A Multi-Racial Panel of African Americanists on the Problems and
Possibilities of Racial Perspective in the Classroom,” Association for the Study of African American Life
and History, Richmond, October 2011.
- “Survival Strategies: Thriving on the Tenure Track,” Association for the Study of African American
Life and History, Cincinnati, October 2009.
- “Finding Your Perfect Press…and Getting Them to Sign You,” Association for the Study of African
American Life and History, Atlanta, September 2006.
Events Organized
- “It’s Not So Black and White: Talking Race, From Ferguson to Bloomington,” Black Lives Matter
Teach-In and Justice Fair, Indiana University, March 2015,
http://www.indiana.edu/~video/stream/launchflash.html?folder=radiotv&filename=nbw_20150326.mp4
- “Rights and Retrospectives: The Civil Rights Act at 50,” Symposium, Indiana University, Nov 2014.
- “Pedagogy & Pushback: Navigating Hostile Classroom Environments,” Workshop, Indiana University,
April 2014.
Service to the University
- Race and Sexuality Search Committee, Department of Gender Studies, Indiana University, Fall 2015
- Strategic Hire Committee, History Department, Indiana University, Fall 2015-Present
- Chair, Cara Caddoo Search Committee, History Department, Indiana University, Fall 2014
- Graduate Admissions Committee, Department of Gender Studies, Indiana University, 2014-15
- Chair, Diversity Committee, History Department, Indiana University, 2013-Present
- Postdoctoral Selection Committee, Center for Research on Race and Ethnicity in Society (CRRES),
Indiana University, 2012-13
- African-American Historian Search Committee, History Department, Indiana University, 2012-13
- Graduate Students of Color Mentoring Project, History Department, Indiana University, 2011-Present
- African Diaspora Field Chair, History Department, Indiana University, 2011-Present
- Associate Instructor Training, “The First Day of Class,” History Dept., Indiana University, Sept. 2010
- Executive Committee, History Department, Indiana University, 2010-2012
- Gunderson Prize Committee, History Department, Indiana University, 2010
- Locke Essay Prize Committee, History Department, Indiana University, 2009
- Graduate Admissions Committee, History Department, Indiana University, 2008-09
- Diaspora Studies Group, African American & African Diaspora Studies, Indiana University, 2007-08
- A.I. Training, “Modeling Professionalism,” History Department, Indiana University, Sept. 2008
- Asian American Historian Search Committee, History Department, Indiana University, 2006-07
- Fringe Benefits Committee, Bloomington Faculty Council, Indiana University, 2006-07
- Foster and Locke Essay Prize Committees, History Department, Indiana University, 2006
- Gunderson Prize Committee, History Department, Indiana University, 2006
- Non-Tenured Faculty Committee, Kean Federation of Teachers, Kean University, 2004-05
- Women’s Studies Scholarship Committee, College of Arts and Sciences, Kean University 2004-05
- Faculty Senate Research Committee, Faculty Senate, Kean University, 2004-05
- University Safety Committee, Union Representative, Kean University, 2004-05
- Consultant, NJ History Partnership Project, Kean University, 2003-05
- University Release Time for Research Committee, Faculty Senate, Kean University, 2003-2005
- Campus Culture Committee, Union Representative, Kean University, 2002-2004
- Faculty Advisor, Phi Alpha Theta Honor Society, History Department, Kean University, 2001-05
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Service to the Profession
- Session Chair/Comment, “Making Moves and Claiming Freedoms: The Navigations and Negotiations
of Antebellum Women of Color,” American Historical Association, Atlanta, January 2016.
- Review Manuscript, Biography of Richard Mentor Johnson, University of Kentucky Press, May 2015.
- Review Manuscript, “Reconstructing Family: Interracial Marriage and Parental Rights in PostEmancipation Southern Courts,” Journal of American History, October 2014.
- Session Chair, “Still ‘Useful’: Civil Rights and Black Value in Politics, Print Media, Beauty Culture,
and Body Discourse,” Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, Memphis,
September 2014.
- Darlene Clark Hine Award Committee, Best Book in Black Women’s and Gender History,
Organization of American Historians, 2014-15.
- National Treasurer, Association of Black Women Historians, 2015-17.
- Review Manuscript, “Spartan Mothers and Citizen Sons,” Gender & History, May 2014.
- Membership Committee, Southern Historical Association, 2013-2015.
- Review Manuscript, “The Light of Knowledge Follows the Impulse of Revolutions,” Journal of the
Early Republic, Spring 2013.
- Cunningham Prize Committee Best Undergraduate Article, American Historical Association, 2012-15
- 19th Century US History Consultant, American Historical Review, August 2010-Present.
- External Examiner, Jessica Vander Heide MA Thesis Defense, Trinity Western University, July 2012.
- Presentation, “Reflections on Black Bodies, Violence, and the Law,” Roundtable on “Trayvon MartinGeographies of the Black Male Body,” Indiana University AAADS Herman Hudson Graduate Student
Conference, March 2012.
- Presentation, “Why History Matters,” Indiana University, Department of History, April 2012.
- Chair, “Individualism and Political Identity,” Indiana University Paul Lucas Graduate Student
Conference, March 2012.
- Review Manuscript, “Polly: Portrait of a Woman in Slavery,” Journal of American History, Feb. 2012.
- Program Committee, Association for the Study of African American Life and History, 2012 Meeting.
-Chair and Comment, “Enslaved Women and Resistance: An Examination of the ‘Gentler Sex’,”
Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Richmond, October 2011.
- Chair and Comment, “Healing and Writing Back: A Womanist Desire,” Collegium for African
American Research Bi-Annual Conference, Paris, France, April 2011.
- Chair, “The Black Tax: The Price Students of Color Pay to Succeed in Academia,” National Council
for Black Studies, Cincinnati, March 2011.
- Chair, “Southern Terror and Black Memory,” Rupture, Repression, and Uprising: Raced and Gendered
Violence along the Color Line, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, April 2008.
- ALANA Committee, Organization of American Historians, 2007-2011. In addition to overseeing
minority affairs for the OAH, we administered the annual Huggins-Quarles Minority Graduate Student
Award and hosted the minority historians’ reception/breakfast at the annual OAH meeting.
- Chair, “African Diaspora Panel,” IU Paul Lucas History Graduate Student Conference, March 2007.
- Status of Black Women in the Historical Profession, Association of Black Women Historians, 20062010.This committee created a national survey to assess the status of black women in the profession.
- Membership Committee, Southern Association of Women’s Historians, 2006-07.
- Session Chair and Commentator, “Black Abolitionists: Visualizing and Visualized,” Association for
the Study of African American Life and History, Atlanta, September 2006.
- Chair, “African Diaspora Panel,” IU Paul Lucas History Graduate Student Conference, March 2006.
- Midwest Regional Director, Association of Black Women’s Historians, 2006-2008.
- Membership Committee, Southern Historical Association, 2005-07.
- Session Chair and Commentator, “Navigating Freedom in Antebellum America,” Association for the
Study of Afro-American Life and History, Pittsburgh, October 2004.
- Session Chair, Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference, William Paterson University, March 2003.
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Community Work
- Black History Month Lecture, “Why Study Black Women’s History?” Bloomington North High
School, February 2016.
- 2015, Btown Justice, Co-Founder. We are a community organization that functions as a social justice,
information clearing house, standing in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter and the modern civil rights
movement. See https://www.facebook.com/btownjustice/ and on Twitter at @BtownJustice.
- 2015-Present, Co-Anchor, WFHB’s weekly African American Radio Show, “Bring It On!”
- 2015, Judge, Black History Month Knowledge Bowl, Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.
Professional Affiliations
- American Historical Association
- American Studies Association
- Association for the Study of African American Life and History
- Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora
- Association of Black Women Historians
- Berkshire Conference of Women Historians
- Collegium for African American Research
- National Council for Black Studies
- Organization of American Historians
- Southern Association for Women Historians
- Southern Historical Association
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