Teaching Philosophy

My teaching is interdisciplinary and endeavors to stretch the imaginations and capacities of my students. In my thematically-driven survey level courses, students achieve a broad understanding of artists, art movements, and histories within the Black Diaspora. My seminars home in on more particularized topics at an advanced level. Each of my courses involve visual analysis, which is rooted in close looking and what the students actually see.

I work to achieve a synthesis of Black studies, visual studies, and art history to help students understand the formation of Black visual culture and its impact on culture at large. I cover challenging topics, specifically how visual culture has been influenced by and influences racial ideologies as well as understandings of difference, representation, and power. Students ultimately will grasp the importance of the African Diaspora to the development of art and visual culture as well as society as a whole.