People

Daniel E. Agbiboa

danielagbiboa@fas.harvard.edu

John and Ruth Hazel Associate Professor of the Social Sciences, and Associate Professor of African and African American Studies

Daniel E. Agbiboa is Associate Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, where he also serves as Faculty Associate of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Affiliate Faculty of the Bloomberg Center for Cities...

Francis Akutey-Baffoe

francis_akuteibaffoe@fas.harvard.edu

African Language Program Preceptor

Francis Akutey-Baffoe is from Kumasi in Ghana. He is a Preceptor of African Languages in the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Twi and Sociology, as well as a master’s degree in...

Emmanuel K. Akyeampong

akyeamp@fas.harvard.edu

Ellen Gurney Professor of History and Professor of African and African American Studies;

Professor Akyeampong joined the History faculty at Harvard upon receiving his Ph.D. in African History from the University of Virginia in 1993. He received his master's degree at Wake Forest University in North Carolina in 1989, where he concentrated on...

Paulina L. Alberto

On Sabbatical Fall 2026-Spring 2027

Professor of African and African American Studies and of History

Director of Graduate Studies

On Leave Fall 2026-Spring 2027 Office Hours: Sign-Up Available via Canvas. Paulina L. Alberto is a historian of Afro-Latin American lives, thought, and politics as they unfolded in the aftermath of slavery, particularly in Brazil and Argentina. Her work...

Amsale (Amy) Alemu

aalemu@g.harvard.edu

African and African American Studies with a primary field in History

Amsale (Amy) Alemu is a Ph.D. Candidate at Harvard University in the Department of African and African American Studies with a primary field in History. Her dissertation research is on the political imaginaries of transnational movements through a history...

Aabid Allibhai

African and African American Studies, with a primary field in History

Aabid Allibhai is a PhD candidate in the Department of African and African American Studies, with a primary field in history. Education: PhD Candidate, African and African American Studies, Harvard University (2018–) AM Candidate, History, Harvard...

Ali S. Asani

aliasani@fas.harvard.edu

Murray A. Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies

Professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and Cultures

On Leave

Professor Asani holds a joint appointment between NELC and the Study of Religion. He also serves on the faculty of the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies. He has taught at Harvard since 1983, offering instruction in a variety of languages such as...

George Aumoithe

gaumoithe@fas.harvard.edu

On Leave AY 2026-27

Assistant Professor of History and of African and African American Studies

Office Hours: On Zoom by appointment, typically Thursdays at 3 PM George Aumoithe, BA (Bowdoin), MA, MPhil, PhD (Columbia), RYT-200 (Yoga Alliance), is a scholar-artist and historian of the 20th century United States. Professor Aumoithe joins Harvard as a...

Tim Barnicle

timothybarnicle@g.harvard.edu

African and African American Studies, with a primary field in Sociology and a secondary field in History

Tim Barnicle is a PhD candidate in the Department of African and African American Studies with a primary field in Sociology and a secondary field in History.

Robert H. Bates

robert.bates.harvard.edu@gmail.com

Eaton Professor of the Science of Government and Professor of African and African American Studies

Robert H. Bates is Eaton Professor of the Science of Government at Harvard University. His research focuses on the political economy of development, particularly in Africa, and on violence and state failure. Bates has conducted field work in Zambia, Sudan...

Eli Bernhardt

eli_bernhardt@fas.harvard.edu

Coordinator of Academic Affairs and Communications

Assistant to the Chair

Pronouns: they, them, theirs

In Office: Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays Eli assists with faculty searches and reviews, updates the website, assists the department's chair, and circulates news through the department's mailing lists and newsletter. Pronouns: they/them/theirs

Robin Bernstein

rbernst@fas.harvard.edu

Dillon Professor of American History and Professor of African and African American Studies and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality

Director of the Program in American Studies

I am a cultural historian who specializes in U.S. racial formation from the nineteenth century to the present. A graduate of Yale's doctoral program American Studies and an elected member of the American Antiquarian Society, I am the Dillon Professor of...