Education

• University of Virginia
  • Ph.D Candidate: History of African Religions
  • Dissertation Title: “King of the Ring: Religion, Sport, and Pluralism in Senegal”
  • Advisor: Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton
  • Research: African Indigenous Religions, Islam in Africa, Ethnography, Christianity in Africa, Embodiment, Pre-Colonial/Colonial African History, Urbanization, Sport, Wolof, French
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
  • MA: Religious Studies
  • Graduate Minor and Certificate: African Studies
  • Advisor: Jonathan Ebel
  • Research: Pentecostalism in West Africa, Islamic Philosophy, Senegalese Migration, Wolof, French, Judaism, Classical Hebrew

• Marygrove College
  • MAT:  Curriculum and Instruction
  • Research: “The Michigan Educational Assessment Program as a Viable Indicator of a School’s Success”
• Eastern Michigan University
  • BS:  History/Geography/Education
  • Research:  “Deutero-Isaiah:  Prophecy or Propaganda?”

Research Languages

Wolof, French, Classical Hebrew

Recent Awards / Fellowships

• 2019-2020: Fulbright Research Award, Senegal
• 2019-2020: University of Virginia Presidential Fellowship in Data Science
• 2019: Frank Finger Graduate Fellowship for Teaching
• 2018-2019: IHGC Global South Graduate Fellowship
• 2017-Present: West African Research Center Affiliate Scholar, Dakar
• 2016-2017: Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS), Swahili: Declined
• 2016: Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS), Advanced Wolof, Senegal
• 2015 Marjorie Hall Thulin Prize

Teaching

• University of Virginia                                                                                  
  • Teaching Assistant
    • ​Islam in Africa
    •  Christianity in Africa
    • Pre-Colonial African History
    • Introduction to Buddhism
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign                                                
  • Teaching Assistant
    • World Religions
    • Asian Mythology
• Howell Public Schools, Michigan                                                               
  • ​Courses Taught
    • ​​Advanced Placement European History
    • Advanced Placement World History
    • Eastern Hemisphere (Geography, Culture, and History)
    • History v. Hollywood
    • World History
    • U.S. History, 1850-Present                   
  • Other Activities:  Vice President and Chief Negotiator for the Howell Education Association, Quiz Bowl coach, Co-Chairperson School Improvement Team, Curriculum Committee, Co-Chairperson Professional Development Committee     
• Warren De La Salle Collegiate High School, Michigan                  
  • Courses Taught:
    • U.S. History (Honors)
    • The U.S., 1945-Present
    • World History                                                                   
  • Other Activities:  Lacrosse coach, School Improvement Team