The Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery (H&LS) Initiative and the University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences have welcomed four visiting faculty from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to teach and conduct research for the 2024-25 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.
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 titled “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.
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