African-American Studies

Terrence Epperson, Ph.D.

Dr. Epperson is the TCNJ Social Sciences Librarian. He holds an MS Degree in Library and Information Science from Drexel University and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Temple University, where his dissertation topic was “To Fix a Perpetual Brand”: The Social Construction of Race in Virginia, 1675-1750. His publications include: “The Contested Commons: Archaeologies of Race, Repression and Resistance in New York City,” in Historical Archaeologies of Capitalism, edited by Mark P. Leone and Parker B. Potter, Jr., Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, The Politics of Empiricism and the Construction of Race as an Analytical Category, Transforming Anthropology 5(1&2):15-19, and Toward a Critical Ethnography of Librarian-Supported Collaborative Learning, Library Philosophy and Practice 9(1). His current research interests include the ethnographic analysis of cyberspace and collaborative learning.

Manisha Ford-Thomas, M.Ed

Manisha Ford-Thomas received a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in African American Studies and a Master’s of Education Degree in Educational Administration and Supervision both from Seton Hall University. She is committed to empowering students attending  institutions of higher education and works to create agents of change in areas of leadership, critical thought, diversity, cultural competence and inclusion.  Ford-Thomas has worked professionally as an educational administrator for several organizations, after school programs, extracurricular initiatives and higher education institutions and currently works as the Complex Coordinator in the Department of Residential Education at The College of New Jersey.

Trina Gipson-Jones Ph.D.

Professor Gipson-Jones is an assistant professor of Nursing at The College of New Jersey and an affiliate member of its African American Studies Department.She conducts research with African American women and men in regard to the relationship between depression and HIV risk behavior. She also specializes in work related stress, work-family conflict and work-family balance.

James Graham, Ph. D.

Dr. James Graham is a professor in the Psychology Department and an affiliate faculty member of the African American Studies Department. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses that focus on child development, research methods, and racial and ethnic diversity. He is the co-author of two books, Developmental Science: An Introductory Approach (Harris and Graham, 2009); and The African American Child: Development and Challenges (Harris and Graham, 2007). He is also a co-editor of Children of Incarcerated Parents: Theoretical, Developmental, and Clinical Issues (Harris, Graham, and Oliver Carpenter, 2010).

Cassandra Jackson, Ph.D

Cassandra Jackson received her Ph.D. in English from Emory University in 2000. Her research and teaching interests are in American literature with emphasis on African-American literature. Her book Barriers Between Us: Interracial Sex in Nineteenth-Century American Literature was published by Indiana University Press in 2004. Her second book, Violence, Visual Culture, and the Black Male Body was published by Routledge in 2010.

Marla Jaksch, Ph.D

Dr. Marla L. Jaksch is an Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and an affiliate faculty of African American Studies. Jaksch, a Fulbright Scholar to Tanzania in 2009-2010, received her Ph.D. in Women’s Studies and Art Education from The Pennsylvania State University. Her research interests include: transnational feminisms, gender and development, indigenous rights and grassroots organizing, arts & culture of East Africa, cultural tourism, heritage, and preservation, and global experiential-learning.

Recent publications include:
Marla Jaksch & Endsley, C. (Forthcoming 2012). “The Troubadour: K’naan, East African Hip Hop and Social Justice,” in Hip Hop(e): The Cultural Practice and Critical Pedagogy of International Hip Hop and ”Feminist Ujamaa: Reflections on the Intersections of Family, Community, and Teaching in East Africa” in Toby Jenkins [ed] Family, Community, & Higher Education, Routledge.

She has taught courses on Race and Ethnic Relations, Racism & Sexism, Race, Gender, & Visual Culture, Gender Politics of Development in East Africa, Gender & Development in Tanzania, Transnational Feminisms, and African Women’s Movements & Grassroots Organizing. She has also led summer experiential-learning programs to East Africa for more than 6 years.

Lorna A. Johnson, MFA

Professor Johnson is an Associate Professor of Communications Studies and award-winning filmmaker who teaches a variety of courses, including Documentary, Television Production and African Americans in Film.

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Rev. Todd McCrary, MS.Ed.

Rev. McCrary is a staff member in the EOF program, an adjunct professor in the office of Liberal Learning, and an affiliated faculty member in African American Studies. He teaches The Evolution of African American Gospel Music.

Ann Marie Nicolosi, Ph.D

Ann Marie Nicolosi, a specialist in women’s and gender history, received her Ph.D. from Rutgers University. In addition to teaching gender history courses, she teaches courses on feminist theories, sexual politics, and GBLT studies. Her current research focuses on a comparative account of women using media in the first and second feminist waves. Dr. Nicolosi is chair of the Department of Women and Gender Studies at TCNJ.

Ruth Palmer, Ph.D

Dr. Palmer is an associate Professor in the Department of Educational Administration and Secondary Education in the School of Education. She is an Educational psychologist; she currently teaches Adolescent Learning and Development, Curriculum in the Secondary School, and Research and Inquiry. Her research interests include teacher education specifically identity construction, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and middle-level education. She is the co-chair for the School of Education Council on Undergraduate Research and advisor for the student-led, Secondary Education Teachers Association (SETA), and its subcommittee, Undergraduate Research Advocacy Initiative (URAI). Dr. Palmer is the vice-president of the Board of Education in Ewing Township Public Schools.

Derek Westbrook, MA

Derek Westbrook is TCNJ’s executive director of Academic Support Programs. He leads TCNJ’s Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) and Center for Academic Success, and is responsible for developing and implementing strategies and initiatives to enhance students’ educational and social experiences, improve retention and graduation rates and reduce time-to-degree.

Westbrook earned a BA in African/African-American studies from the State University of New York at Albany and an MA in Black culture studies from The Ohio State University. He is a PhD candidate in educational administration and policy studies at SUNY Albany.