PhD, American Studies, New York University;
BA, Music, Cultural Anthropology and Urban Studies, Hampshire College

My interests are in African American culture past and present as related to Jazz as a black art form specifically and performance practices generally. I have as well an interest in the role of visual images in the shaping of ideas in society, historically and in our time. I teach using images, film, and sound and promote digital technology as a teaching tool.

• Visual Cultural Analysis
• Black Vistas: The Visual and Material Culture of Jazz
• Origins in Global Cultures: Values and the Universal
• Early America and Visual Culture
• Modern America and Visual Culture

• “Surrogates: Juba and Rhythmic Practices.” in FORECAAST. (Forum for European Contributions to African American Studies) Volume 9. Lit Verlag, Hamburg. 2003
• “The Digital Scholar” a presentation at the Apple Store SoHo highlighting the use of New Media in Higher Education. Fall 2003

Colonial American era travel writing by Europeans and images and descriptions of native American and African American culture and performance; The evolution of African American instrumental performance prior to Jazz and the relationship to the African musical heritage; The success and support for, and the racism and limitations against, African American performers in Germany and France during the nineteen twenties.

• J. William Fulbright Program, Senior Scholar
• W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research at Harvard University, Research Fellow
• Apple Computer Company, Apple Distinguished Educator

• Fulbright Senior Scholar award, teaching and research, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universitat in Münster, Germany. Academic Year 2002-2003
• Research Fellow, W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research at Harvard University. Academic Year 2000-2001
• Apple Distinguished Educator. Sponsored by the Apple Computer Company. Spring 2000