Executive Committee
Dr. Vanessa K. Valdés
Phone: 212-650-6279
Email: vvaldes@ccny.cuny.edu
Office: NAC 6/109 or NAC 6/331D
Dr. Vanessa K. Valdés is the director of the Black Studies Program at The City College of New York-CUNY. A graduate of Yale and Vanderbilt Universities, and a Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, her research interests focus on the cultural production of peoples of African descent throughout the Americas: the United States and Latin America, including the Caribbean and Brazil.
Professor Michael B. Gillespie
Phone: 212-650-8117
Email: mgillespie1@ccny.cuny.edu
Office: Shepard 467
Michael B. Gillespie is an Associate Professor of Film in the Department of Media and Communication Arts and the Black Studies Program at The City College of New York. He received his MA and Ph.D. in Cinema Studies from New York University. His teaching and research focuses on black visual and expressive culture, visual historiography, film theory, film adaptation, and genre theory.
Professor A. Samad-Matias
Phone: 212-650-8657
Email: asamad@ccny.cuny.edu
Office: NAC 7/112
B.A., Hunter College, M.A.; M.A., New York Univ.
Professor Boukary Sawadogo
Phone: 212-650-8117
Email: bsawadogo@ccny.cuny.edu
Office: Shepard 476
His research and teaching interests are focused on African cinema, documentary and Black world experience.
Professor Linda Villarosa
Phone: 212-650-7272
Email: lvillarosa@ccny.cuny.edu
Office: Shepard 463
She research and teaches journalism
Professor Yaari Felber-Seligman
Phone: 212-650-7469
Email: yfelberseligman@ccny.cuny.edu
Office: NAC 4/145 or NAC 2/127C
Professor Felber-Seligman (pronouns: they/them/theirs) specializes in the history of pre-1700s eastern Africa and comparative world history. They teach courses relating to African history of all eras and periodically also teach courses in early World History. Felber-Seligman is particularly interested in the use of non-documentary sources, comparative trade history, African encounters with others, Africa’s contributions to world history, gender studies, and LGBTQ+ history.
Professor Laurie Woodard
Phone: 212-650-3918
Email: lwoodard@ccny.cuny.edu
Office: NAC 6/145 or NAC 5/129B
Laurie Woodard began her professional life as a dancer with the Dance Theater of Harlem. She completed her BA in History at Columbia University and her Ph. D in History and African American Studies at Yale University. Her research focuses upon the intersection between the cultural and political realms and employs interdisciplinary methodologies, drawing from performance studies, critical race theory, and women and gender studies. She was the recipient of the National Endowment for the Humanities Schomburg Scholar-in-Residence Fellowship and the Sylvia Arden Boone Prize. Her work has appeared in The New York Times and American Quarterly. She is the recipient of a 2018 National Endowment for the Humanities Faculty Award and is currently completing a manuscript on the life and work of performing artist and civil rights activist Fredi Washington.
