The Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery (H&LS) Initiative and the University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) have welcomed four visiting faculty from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to teach and conduct research for the 24-25 academic year.
“I’m thrilled to welcome such stellar faculty to our campus this year and look forward to seeing the impact they have on our students and the opportunities and meaningful connections they create with our FAS colleagues,” said Edgerley Dean of the FAS Hopi Hoekstra.
To contribute to H&LS’s commitment to developing enduring partnerships with HBCUs, then FAS Dean Claudine Gay, with the support of divisional deans instituted the inaugural FAS Deans Visiting Professorship Program in 2023. This year, four visiting professors are participating in the program from Howard University, Morgan State University, and Xavier University of Louisiana. These visiting professors will have the option to teach courses this academic year and to work on their own research.
I’m thrilled to welcome such stellar faculty to our campus this year and look forward to seeing the impact they have on our students and the opportunities and meaningful connections they create with our FAS colleagues.
– Edgerley Dean of the FAS Hopi Hoekstra
Meet the Professors
- Asem Abdulahad is an associate professor of chemistry at Xavier University of Louisiana. He will be using his understanding of polymer structure-property relationships to research and develop new materials for carbon dioxide capture applications this fall semester.
- Carmen Luz Cosme Puntiel is an assistant professor of Spanish & Afro-Latin American and Caribbean studies at Xavier University of Louisiana. Her research explores the subjectivity, intellectual creativity, and political imagination of enslaved and free men and women of African ancestry, who lived in colonial Cuba, during the 19th century. She is currently writing a volume of short stories in Spanish called Mis ancestras todavía cuentan historias (My ancestors still tell stories). It is based on the life experiences of young people of African ancestry in the Diaspora, which expands her research on the impact of the African oral traditions during and after Colonization.
- Nicole Dezrea Jenkins is an assistant professor of sociology and criminology at Howard University. She will be expanding her research on the intersection of race, gender, and institutions, with a specific emphasis on the experiences of Black women in the African Diaspora this fall semester. Additionally, she will be working on her current book project with Princeton University Press and continuing her international research on natural hair discrimination and celebration through her Global Crowns research project.
- coleman a. jordan [ebo], is an assistant professor of architecture and planning at Morgan State University. His research focuses on the Spaces of the Black Atlantic, decolonizing Black aesthetics and advocating for African and African Diaspora solidarity and innovation. His pavilion design, ‘ReCall & Response,’ inspired by the West African talking drum, will be showcased at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale from May to November. This fall, he is teaching HAA 174P, ‘I Can’t Breathe!’ Tracing the Spatially Suffocated African Diaspora in the Americas.
“The FAS Dean’s Visiting Faculty program is giving me a chance to focus on my research and develop new ideas, [and] learn from the researchers here at Harvard,” said Abdulahad. “It has provided me with access to facilities and equipment that I don’t have access to at my home institution.”
The Value of HBCUs
HBCUs were established to educate Black students during a time when segregation and discrimination were legal. Despite insufficient funding, they have been pivotal in producing Black professionals, leaders, and changemakers who have been instrumental in making the nation more innovative, advanced, equitable, and just.
As recommended in the Legacy of Slavery at Harvard: Report and Recommendations of the Presidential Committee, H&LS is committed to partnering with HBCUs to promote enriching and long-lasting bonds between the Universities.
“It is a real privilege for the Harvard community to learn from the visiting faculty from HBCUs” said Sara Bleich, vice provost for special projects at Harvard University. “We are so fortunate to host the visiting HBCU professors this academic year as they share their scholarship with Harvard students and faculty members. I know that as a community, the FAS’ research and practice will be sharpened and expanded because of their work.”
The commitment for H&LS to develop enduring partnerships with HBCUs continues to grow with the launch of several other partnerships:
- The HBCU Digital Library Trust, co-funded by H&LS and Harvard Library, is a partnership between Harvard Library and the HBCU Library Alliance. Launched in March 2023, it aims to expand the discovery, preservation, and digitization of archival materials at HBCUs and make them freely available to the public. Unique archival materials from HBCUs are scanned, collaboratively described, and deposited into the existing HBCU Digital Collection located within the Atlanta University Center (AUC) Woodruff Library.
- This summer, 20 rising college juniors and seniors from 12 HBCUs joined Harvard College’s Summer Undergraduate Research Village as the first cohort of the Du Bois Scholars Program. Funded by Harvard College and H&LS, the Du Bois Scholars Program gets its name from the University’s first Black Ph.D. graduate, W.E.B. Du Bois. The program enables HBCU scholars to pursue rigorous research and engage with learning environments that foster intellectual growth and personal development.
- The Executive Leadership Institute, a multi-year initiative supported by H&LS in collaboration with the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and Clark Atlanta University. The Institute includes the participation of new HBCU presidents in HGSE’s annual Harvard Seminar for New Presidents.
“While universities like Harvard had the wind at their back — flourishing from endowments, strong enrollments, constant curricular expansion, massive infrastructure improvements, and significant endowment growth — HBCUs often had gale force winds impeding their development” said Ruth Simmons, senior advisor to the president on HBCU engagement, Harvard University. “Our nation is finally coming to terms with the consequences of the underfunding of HBCUs, but we are far from where we need to be if we are to be assured continued progress in the fight for equal educational benefits.”
For more information, contact Senior Associate Director of Communications, Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Initiative, Julita Bailey-Vasco at julita_bailey-vasco@harvard.edu