Oakes Faculty Fellows
The Oakes College faculty represents a wealth of expertise from the natural sciences to the humanities, and we are proud to have some of the top scholars in the world among our faculty. Our students major in nearly every discipline at UCSC—from economics and computer science, to theater arts and Latin American and Latino studies—and they are well supported by the depth and breadth of the Oakes College faculty and the extensive knowledge of our advising team.
TBA is Oakes's faculty chair!
The Chair of the Faculty is an Academic Senate member, other than the Provost, who is elected by the college Faculty to serve a two year term, and will serve as a member of the Executive Committee.

- Title
- Associate Professor
- Division Humanities Division
- Department
- History Department
- Affiliations Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
- Phone 831-459-4028 (office), 831-459-1924 (message)
- Fax 831-459-1925
- Website
- Office Location
- Humanities Building 1, 532 Humanities 1
- Office Hours Fall 2019: On Leave
- Mail Stop Humanities Academic Services
- Mailing Address
- 1156 High Street
- Santa Cruz CA 95064
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Africa and African Studies, African American / Black Studies, African Diaspora, Africana Studies, Colonialism, Film, Subsaharan Africa, Jazz
- Courses HIS 30, The Making of Modern Africa; HIS 121A, African American History to 1877; HIS 121B, African American History: 1877 to the Present; HIS 137A, Africa to 1800; HIS 137B, Africa, 1800-Present; HIS 137C, African Cinema; HIS 190N, Topics in African History; HIS 190O, African American Historiography
Summary of Expertise
African Social and Cultural History With Special Reference to Eastern and Southern Africa
African American Social and Cultural History
African Cinema
African Religion
Islam in Africa
African American and Diasporic Spirituality
African and Diasporic Literature
African Music
African American Music
African American Improvisational Music and "Jazz" tradition
Christianity in Africa
Research Interests
African and African-American history, art, music, literature and cinema; eastern and southern Africa; African Languages; Indian Ocean wold; African and African American linkages; Islamic civilization; African diaspora studies; world history
Biography, Education and Training
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
Selected Publications
- Max Yergan: Race Man, Internationalist, Cold Warrior New York, New York University Press, 2006
- "Unwritten History: African Work in the YMCA of South Africa," History in Africa: A Journal of Method 32 (2005), 435-444
- "African Film Festivals in Focus," Documentary Box 24: Quarterly Journal of the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Tokyo (March 10, 2005)
- "Max Yergan Encounters South Africa: Theological Perspectives on Race," Journal of Religion in Africa 34:3 (2004): 235-65
- "Crossing The Water: African-American Historical Linkages with South Africa." Co-editor with Robert R. Edgar and Robert T. Vinson (Ohio Press, forthcoming)
- "'The Men of Me': Max Yergan and the 'Bantu Section'of the South African YMCA Association," in Black Modernity: Discourses Between the United States and South Africa, Ntongela Masilela, ed. (in press: Africa World Press, Trenton, 2004).
- "Islam in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania." Studies in Contemporary Islam. Volume 4, Number 2 (Fall 2002)
- African Lliberation Poster Art. Curator. June-Sept 2002:
- UCSC Library, California Learning Resource Network, UCSC Currents
- "Max Yergan in South Africa: A Transatlantic Interaction." Imagining Home: Class, Culture and Nationalism in African Diaspora, R. Kelley and S. Lemelle, eds. London and New York: Verso, 1994.
- "South African People's History." History from South Africa: Alternative Visions and Practices, J. Brown et al., eds., 277-86. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991.
- "Oswin Boys Bull and the Emergence of Southern African 'Nonwhite' YMCA Work," Journal of Anglican Studies, 2011
- "Freedom: Life After Slavery," prepared for Teacher Created Materials [With Stephanie Kuligowski] Huntington Beach, CA: 2012
- "Langston Hughes: Harlem Renaissance Writer," prepared for Teacher Created Materials [With Stephanie Kuligowski] Huntington Beach, CA: 2012
Selected Exhibitions
"A Luta Continua: African Liberation Posters from the collection of David H. Anthony," McHenry Library, UCSC, Summer 2002.
Selected Recordings
- Enduring Questions about Diamonds, December 11th, 2006. Interview with "To The Point" on KCRW.
- Talk of the Bay radio interview on KUSP 88.9, March 27th, 2006. Discussion behind the mystery of Max Yergan, black activist turned apartheid supporter.
- Africa Today interview, KPFA 94.1 FM, Berkeley, January 3, 2011.
- "Remembering John Hope Franklin," 7th Avenue Project, KUSP-FM, Sunday March 29, 2010
- "Remembering The Life and Work of Dennis Brutus," Poetry Show, KUSP-FM
Selected Performances
Guest artist (tenor saxophone), Karlton Hester