ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE: 2023-2027 Educational Testing Services (ETS). Member. CLEP College Composition Development Committee. 2020-2022 Hampton University. Member. School of Liberal Arts and Education Tenure and Promotion Committee. 2019-Present Hampton University. Certifying Campus Advisor. Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. 2019-2022 Hampton University. Member. School of Liberal Arts and Education. W.A.C. Committee. 2018-2021 Hampton University. Chair. University’s Academic Catalog Committee. 2019-2020 Hampton University. Member. EFL Program Review Committee. 2015-2020 Hampton University. Pre-test Coordinator. ETS-AP English Literature/Language. 2018-2020 Hampton University. Campus Coordinator. UNCF/Mellon Programs. 2018-2019 Hampton University. Co-Coordinator. UNCF/Mellon Teaching and Learning Institute. 2016-2019 Hampton University. Coordinator. Writing Across the Curriculum (W.A.C.). 2016-2017 Hampton University. Interim Chair. Department of English and Foreign Languages (EFL). 2015-2016 Hampton University. Chair. EFL Scholarship, Research, and Grants Committee. 2015-2016 Hampton University. Chair. EFL Hiring Committee. 2010-2011 Hampton University. Co-Coordinator. UNCF/Mellon Teaching and Learning Institute. 2009-2011 Hampton University. Chair. University Advisory Committee on Library and Informational Services. 2010-2011 Hampton University. Member. School of Liberal Arts and Education Branding Committee. 2007-2008 Germantown Academy. Assistant Diversity Coordinator.
PRESTIGIOUS FELLOWSHIPS: August 2023-May 2024 UNCF/Mellon Faculty Residency-Release Time Award; September-December 2023 UNCF/Mellon National Humanities Center (NHC) Residential Fellowship; September 2022-May 2023 Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams, Jr. NHC Residential Fellowship; August-December 2020 UNCF/Mellon Faculty Residency-Release Time Award; May-August 2016 UNCF/Mellon Faculty Residency Fellowship - Summer Research at NYC-Schomburg Center; June-July 2011 National Humanities Center Summer Institutes in Literary Studies Fellow; June 2009 Educational Testing Services (E.T.S.) Visiting Scholar--declined; August 2003-July 2004 Marquette University Mitchem Dissertation Fellowship--declined.
HONORS AND AWARDS: April 2024 Speculative Film and Movings Images by or about Black Women and Girls:Watch It!Rowman & Littlefield’s Spotlight on Lexington Books for Women’s History Month (March 2024); June 2023 Podcasting the Humanities: Creating Digital Stories for the Public, NHC Virtual Institute; March 2023-August 2023 Introduction to Digital Humanities Scholars Program-History of Black Writing, UofKansas; August 2022-December 2023 Hampton University Sabbatical Leave of Absence; April 2005 Hope College Provost’s Office and Office of Multicultural Life Recognition Award; Spring 2001 Hope College Preparing Future Faculty Teaching Fellowship.
GUEST SPEAKER/BOOK TOURS: October 2024 “Writing as Praxis…and Let’s Not Forget the Inspiration and Fun.”--Plenary Speaker. UNCF/Mellon First Book Institute, Atlanta, GA; August 2024 “Promoting and Applying for an HBCU Residential Fellowship.”Webinar--Guest Speaker, National Humanities Center, Durham, NC—VIRTUAL. March 2024 Tangled Roots- Keynote Address, “Nnedi Okorafor’s Sheroes and Their Extra-Ordinary, Hair.”—Suffolk Center for the Arts, Suffolk, VA; February 2024 “Exploring Women/Girls of African-Descent in 20th/21st Century Speculative Fiction.”--Humanities in Class Webinar Series, National Humanities Center, Durham, NC/VIRTUAL; November 2023 “MOVIE TALKS - The Little Mermaid” --Hampton City Public Library, Hampton, VA: October 2023 “‘Sisterhood’ in the Worlds of Black SF - Unique, Endearing, and Powerful Bonds Among Women”— National Humanities Center Fellow’s Workshop, Durham, NC; October 2023 “Is She Going or Has She Been Where No One Has Gone Before?!?!”—Annual Department of African, African-American, and Diaspora Studies Colloquium, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Durham, NC; October 2023 “Black Women and Girls in Speculative Fiction: Characters, Texts, and Creators”--Academics at Work, Hampton University, Department of English and Foreign Languages, Hampton, VA/VIRTUAL; September 2023 “Teen Docent Workshop 1” — Colson Whitehead's Underground Railroad- Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati, OH/VIRTUAL; August 2023 “MOVIE TALKS - Fast Color”—Hampton City Public Library, Hampton, VA: June 2023 “MOVIE TALKS - A Wrinkle in Time”--Hampton City Public Library, Hampton, VA; April 2023 “Let’s Chop It Up! with Karima K. Jeffrey-Legette ”—Claflin University, Claflin, SC/VIRTUAL; March 2023 “40 Acres & A Mule, Yesterday, Today, or Tomorrow? - Arguing for Reparations through Select Black SF texts”--St. Augustine University, Raleigh, NC; February 2023 “‘Black to the Future’? No, the Future is Black” --Shaw University, Raleigh, NC; November 2022 “The Black Female Superhero: Does She Truly Reign?”--National Humanities Center Fellow’s Workshop, Durham, NC (via ZOOM); April 2020 “Revisiting the Harlem Renaissance”--Betty and William Jones Humanities Speaker Series, Norfolk Collegiate, Norfolk, VA (cancelled due to COVID); February 2020 “An Introduction to Caribbean Literature.”--Cultural Diversity Day, Barron Elementary School, Hampton, VA.
EDUCATION: 2024-Present Hampton University, Hampton, VA. Master of Divinity. (in progress)
1998-2007 Howard University, Washington, D.C. Doctorate in English Literature. Specialization: African-American, Caribbean, 20TH-Century British Literatures and Postcolonial Theory. Dissertation: “Littoral Figures and the Language of the Sea: A Postcolonial Examination of the Protagonists in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and In the Castle of My Skin.”
1996-1999 Lehman College, Bronx, N.Y. Master of Arts degree in English Literature. Thesis: “Zora Neale Hurston’s Contributions to Black American Theater, 1920-1940.”
1990-1994 Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA. Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors. Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow. Major: English Literature. Minor: Education. Concentration: Black Studies. Thesis: “A History of Black American Dance Theatre and Performance.”
TEACHING EXPERIENCE: 2024-Present Hampton University Online. Course Developer. Division of Religious Studies. 2008-PresentHampton University. Tenured Associate Professor. Department of English and Foreign Languages. 2007-2008 Germantown Academy. Upper School English Teacher. 2003-2007 Hope College. Visiting Professor & Assistant Professor. Department of English. 2001-2003 Hope College. Preparing Future Faculty (P.F.F.) Teaching Fellow. Department of English. 1999-2001 Howard University. Teaching Assistant/Adjunct Lecturer. College of Arts and Sciences. 1996-1998 Lehman College. Adjunct Lecturer. Department of English. 1994-1996 The Baldwin School. Upper School and Middle School English Teacher.
COURSE OFFERING DESCRIPTIONS: Survey of the Old/New Testament - Relating Elements of Style (ex., character, setting, plot, theme, point of view) to a theological grounding in the study of The Bible. The Black Superhero - Entails the chronicling of heroes of African-descent in USA, with particular attention to characters written, illustrated, directed, and/or produced by women of African-descent. Contemporary Themes in African-American Literature & Film - Attention to female protagonists of African-descent in select moving images with the study of literature by Black Women writers of SF. African-American Literature - Survey and Topics Courses in Contemporary Themes, Select Authors, and Playwrights. Caribbean Literature and Film - Introductory Survey course with sampling of texts that have been adapted to film. African Writers II - Survey Course that begins in the 20th Century. Ethnic Literature I/II - Attention to how “race” is defined or negated in Multicultural American Literature. American Literature I/II - Topics/themes in canonical American literary studies. The Bible as Literature - Using “Elements of Style” (ex., plot, point of view, setting) to read scripture in The Bible. Senior Seminar - Capstone thesis for majors, optimizing a range approaches (ex., paper,portfolio, lesson plans). First Year Writing/Composition I/II - Preliminary survey courses in rhetoric, research, argument, and analysis. Traditional Grammar - Introduction to common grammar rules, preparing students to best edit/proofread texts. Independent Studies - Specialized courses, particularly advanced topics for Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows.
PUBLICATIONS: Book Projects: Black Girls Write/Right The Future: Speculative Fiction by or about Black Women and Girls.TBD.Manuscript “‘Gathering the Pieces’ of Our Past: How a Literal and Figurative Connection with the Caribbean Book-Entry can not only Inform but Infuse One’s Global-African Identity.”. Carmen Gillespie: The Catch of Breath. Ed. Daryl Lynn Dance. Bucknell UP, TBD. Speculative Films and Moving Images by or about Black Women and Girls: WATCH IT! Manuscript Landham, Lexington P, 2023. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793627032/Speculative-Film-and-Moving-Images-by-or-about-Black-Women-and-Girls-Watch-It! “HOPKINSON, NALO (December 20, 1960 – ) NOVELIST, SHORT STORY WRITER, PROFESSOR” Book-Entry Encyclopedia of the Black Arts Movement . Ed. Verner D Mitchell and Cynthia Davis. Rowman and Littlefield P, 2019. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538101469/Encyclopedia-of-the-Black-Arts-Movement First Year Writing Guide: Twelfth Edition. General Ed. C. Wynne; Associate Editor, K. Jeffrey, Department Textbook et.al.Tapestry Press, 2017. “Hughes, Langston (1902-1967).” Icons of African American Literature. Book-Entry Ed. Yolanda W. Page. Westport: Greenwood P, 2011. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/icons-of-african-american-literature-9780313352034/ “Edwidge Danticat’s Krik?Krak!.” The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Writersand Their Work. Book-Entry NY: Facts on File, 2010. 231-32. Print. “Edwidge Danticat (1969- ).” The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Writers and Their Work. Book-Entry NY: Facts on File, 2010. 87-88. Print. “Edwidge Danticat’s The Dew Breaker.” The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Writers and Their Work Book-Entry NY: Facts on File, 2010. 95-96. Print. https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Contemporary-Writers-Literary-Movements/dp/0816075786 Refereed “George Lamming’s ‘The Boy and the Sea’ – A Littoral Artist’s Experimentation with Peer-Review Article Language and a Postcolonial Examination of the Self.” Anthurium: A Caribbean Studies Journal. 12.2 (2015) https://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/anthurium/vol12/iss2/5/ “Mother of a New World? Stereotypical Representations of Black Women in Three Peer-Review Article Post-Apocalyptic Films.” Journal of Feminist Scholarship. 6 (2014). https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/jfs/vol6/iss6/2/ “George Lamming’s In the Castle of My Skin: A Littoral Figure Discovers Self-Identity Peer-Review Article and Authorial Language.” Journal of Literature and Art Studies. 4 (2012): 431-53. Print. https://www.academia.edu/28656187/Journal_of_Literature_and_Art_Studies_Vol.2_Issue_4_April_2012 “Littoralia or the Littoral as Trope: Developing a Paradigm of Post-coloniality.” Peer-Review Article The C.L.R. James Journal. 6.1 (2010): 99-126. Print. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26758877
“Rare books and African American Studies.”George Foster Peabody Special Collection.William R. & Norma B. Harvey Library.Hampton University.Hampton, VA. https://hamptonu.libguides.com/c.php?g=431206&p=2941135 Willoughby-Herard, Tiffany.“Political education in a food pantry:child perspectives on the liturgy and agape of Rev. Mangedwa Nyathi in Detroit (USA).Third World Thematics:A TWQ Journal.May 18, 2023.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23802014.2023.2211963
“Recent and Upcoming Publications Related to Black Film.” In “Professional Notes and Research Resources.Black Camera.(2023) 14 (2):412.Indiana UP.
“A Queer Visitation: Black Unbelonging and the Gothic Phenomenology of Flesh.” Brenton Boyd.liquid blackness. Duke UP, Vol. 6, No 2 (2022): 16-35. https://read.dukeupress.edu/liquid-blackness/article/6/2/16/319808/A-Queer- VisitationBlack-Unbelonging-and-the-Gothic
“Teaching A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: An Interpretive Synthesis to inform Critical Literacy Instruction in International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Context-Master’s Thesis by Irem Hamamcilar. The Program Curriculum and Instruction Ihsan Dogramaci Bilkent University Ankara. October 2019. http://repository.bilkent.edu.tr/bitstream/handle/11693/52686/10303608.pdf?sequence=1
“Representation of the negresse, Trauma and Marronage in Post-Slavery Narratives”-Master’s Thesis by Modupeoluwa Tolulope Jebutu. Department of French. Simon Fraser University. http://summit.sfu.ca/item/16968
Deringer, Ludwig. “Kongressbericht-The 125th Annual Convention of the Modern Language Association of America, 2009: A Focus on the Poetry Sessions.” Meyer, Michael. English and American Literatures. Germany: Auflage, 2011. Print. 67
“Hampton University’s 2010 Read-In Inspires Painting.” On the Prairie Diamond: The Weblog of LeAnne Howe.March 28, 2010.
“Jeffrey, Karima Keesha. Littoral Figures and the Language of the Sea: A Postcolonial Study of the Protagonists in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and In the Castle of My Skin. Ph.D. diss. Howard Univ., 2007. 125pp. [DAI-A 68, ix (March 20008): AAT 3283253.] Brockman, William S. Current JJ Checklist. James Joyce Quarterly. University of Tulsa.
REVIEWER: 2024 American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) HBCU Faculty Fellowships and/or Grants Applications. 633 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017-6706. 2022 Routledge-Taylor and Francis Group. Third World Thematics. A TWQ journal. “Political Education in a Food Pantry: Child Perspectives on the Liturgy and Agape of Rev. Mangedwa Nyathi in Detroit.” 5 Howick Place, London,SW1P1WG. 2020 McFarland Books. The Crossroads of Voodoo Aesthetics and Postmodernism: The Consciousness ofCircum-Atlantic Traumas in Postmodern African American Literature. Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640 / 960 NC Hwy 88 W, Jefferson,NC 28640 2012BIOGRAPHY. Center for Biographical Research, University of Hawai’i, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822 2012Anthurium: A Caribbean Studies Journal, online (Peer-Reviewer); 2011 Race/Ethnicity:Multidisciplinary Global Contexts, an online journal (Peer-Reviewer); 2006 Calvin College’s Kuyer’s Institute (Peer-Reviewer); 2007 Grand Valley State University Umoja magazine (Peer Reviewer).
SPECIAL CONFERENCE EVENTS: April 2019 Panel Coordinator, Chair and Presenter-Black Girls Write/Right The Future-A Dynamic Conversation about the Representations of Black Women/Girls in Speculative Fiction--College Language Association (CLA) Annual Conference, NCCU, Raleigh, NC; November 2018 Panel Coordinator, Chair, and Presenter-“Women of Color in Speculative Fiction.”--South Atlantic Modern Languages Association Annual Conference. Birmingham, AL; June 2018 Event Co-Coordinator and Primary Investigator- “Black Girls Write/Right The Future-A Conversation about the Contributions and Legacies of Speculative Fiction by and about Women/Girls of African- Descent.”--UNCF/Mellon Teaching and Learning Institute. Hampton University, Hampton, VA; November 2014 Panel Coordinator and Presenter-“Realizing Our Institutional Missions-Engaging Present and Past Heroes to Inspire Modern Global Leadership and Service”--National Symposium. New York University Faculty Resource Network. San Juan, PR; November 2013 Co-Presenter with Dr. Carmina Sanchez-del-Valle (Department of Architecture)-“Here, I Am, Now: Literary Spaces and Physical Places”--Teaching and Learning Institute. Paine College,GA; October 2012 Panel Coordinator and Moderator-“OUR LEGACIES-Sustaining a Global Presence in the Twenty-First Century—Historically Black Colleges and University Faculty Development Network (H.B.C.U.-F.D.N.). Orlando, FL; January 2011 Undergraduate Panel Coordinator and Moderator-“Applying Western and African Diasporic Philosophies/Spiritualities to Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo.”—The State of African American and African Diaspora Studies: Methodology, Pedagogy, and Research. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Harlem, NY.
SELECT SCHOLARLY PRESENTATIONS: April 2024 “Developing Web-Content as Part of my DH Initiative on Black Women/Girls in Speculative Fiction” —CLA Annual Conference: Confronting the Digital Divide:Narratives form the Black Book Interactive Project.Memphis, TN;
March 2023 “…and ‘Still We Rise’, or Do We?: The Promise and Problems of Supergirls of African-Descent in Popular Contemporary American Culture”-- 2023 National Black Writers Conference Biennial Symposium, Center for Black Literature: Diasporic Visions: A Celebration of Black Speculative Fiction, Medgar Evers College. Brooklyn, NY;
April 2019 “Black Women/Girls in Speculative Fiction: Who have they been, why should we care, and what do the current trends show?” CLA Annual Conference. Raleigh, NC;
November 2018 “Ode’ to Halle-The Face of Black Women in Speculative Fiction Films”--SAMLA Annual Conference. Birmingham, AL;
July 2018 “Considering Lusophone Connections to Teaching/Research at Hampton University”--UNCF/Mellon Faculty Seminar. Lisbon, Portugal;
March 2018 “What Type of Academic Preparation Does a Twenty-First Century English Major Require?”—North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Greensboro, NC;
SELECT PANEL PRESENTATIONS: October 2019 Moderator-“Scholars Complicating Narratives: Interrogating Citizenship, Race, Gender, and Sexuality”--UNCF/Mellon Programs 30th Annual Conference. Washington, DC; February 2019 Presenter -“Centennial Celebration of the Harlem Renaissance 1919-2019: An Interdisciplinary Discussion with Carmina Sanchez-del-Valle (Professor Architecture)--Hampton University, Hampton, VA; October 2018 Panelist-“International Faculty Seminar 2018 to Portugal and Spain Breakout Session-THE AFRICAN DIASPORA IN THE SPANISH-SPEAKING AND LUSOPHONE WORLDS--UNCF/Mellon Conference. Spelman College, Atlanta, GA; October 2018 Panelist-“Coordinating a Teaching and Learning Institute Breakout Session--UNCF/Mellon Conference. Spelman College, Atlanta, GA; March 2018 Presenter-“Understanding the Afro-Latino Experience from a Caribbean/Postcolonial American Perspective”--Languages at Work Lecture Series. Hampton University, Hampton, VA; February 2016 Panelist- “The Materiality of Octavia Butler: An Intergenerational Conversation.”--Inaugural Octavia E. Butler: Celebrating Letters, Life and Legacy Conference. Spelman College, GA; March 2012 Panelist-“Apocalypse: Creativity and Destruction at Future’s End—American Comparative Literary Association seminar, Brown University, RI; March 2012 Panelist-“Exploring Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”—34th Annual National Conference on the Black Family, Hampton University, VA; March 2012 Moderator-“State of the Black Family”—Town Hall Meeting, 34th Annual National Conference on the Black Family-“Roots & Wings: The Road to the Future Runs Through the Past,” Hampton University, VA; August 2011 Presenter-“UNCF/Mellon Closing Plenary Address-“Extending a Legacy of International Presence and Outreach at HBCU’s in the 21st Century-Why Today? Why Now?”—Teaching and Learning Institute. Hampton University, Hampton, VA; October 2011 Panelist-Enriching the Teaching and Learning Environment: UNCF/Mellon Teaching and Learning Institutes—UNCF/Mellon Conference, Buckhead, GA; March 2010Presenter-“Can we read LeAnne Howe’s Miko Kings as a post-racial text? An Examination of the (Re)Structuring of Race in the Characters of Lena Coulter and Justina Maurepas”--Read-In. Hampton University, Hampton, VA.
OTHER PRESENTATIONS: April 2022 Facilitator-Black Women/Girls as Redemptive Forces for the the Future: A Showing of Fast Color, followed by a conversation—6th Annual Hampton University Film Festival (H.U.F.F.), Hampton University, VA; February 2021 Moderator-A Conversation with Travel Historian, Tammy Gibson and Associate Artistic Director for Le Petit Theatre in New Orleans--Black History Month Author/Speaker Series, Arna Bontemps Museum, virtual; April 2019 Moderator-“SHORT FILM SCREENINGS on Faith in Film followed by a discussion”—4th Annual Hampton University Film Festival (H.U.F.F.), Hampton University, VA; April 2019 Moderator- Good Friday ENG 323-The Bible As Literature, Student Presentations—Hampton University, VA; March 2013 Moderator-“Literary Perspectives on Salvage the Bones”--Read-In, Hampton University, VA; October 2012 Panelist- “Talk Back” - Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Hampton University, VA.
COMMUNITY SERVICE/OUTREACH/STUDY ABROAD INITIATIVES: September 2022-August 2024 Minister/Leader in Training - Freedom School of Ministry - Hampton, VA; August 2021-2023 Board Member - Arna Bontemps Museum - Alexandria, LA; October 2015-January 2022 Licensed Minister - Sixth Mount Zion Baptist - Temple, Hampton, VA; February 2018 Performer, Swarthmore College Alumni Gospel Choir (SCAGC) Tour, South Africa (Johannsburg and Cape Town); March 2017 Faculty-led Spring Break Trip for Hampton University students to Cuba; May 2012 Performer, SCAGC Anniversary University Tour, Shanghai/Xi’an, China; March 2012 Missionary & Faculty Development Coordinator-Kahunda Secondary School, Kahunda, Tanzania; June 2010 Missionary, Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Temple - Kangemi/Nairobi, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda.