Other Africanists

Adam Ashforth, Professor of Anthropology and Political Science, has published extensively on the issues of state formation and spiritual insecurity in South Africa. He is the author of several books, including Witchcraft, Violence and Democracy in South Africa which received the Melville J. Herskovits Award for the Best Book on Africa in 2005 and the 2006 Toyin Falola Africa Book Award.

Henry Bienen, President of Northwestern and political scientist, has researched governance and the role of the military in Tanzania, Kenya, and Nigeria. He has also served as consultant on these issues to numerous United States government agencies.

Virginia DeLancey is a development economist; she has conducted research and taught in Cameroon, Egypt, Somalia, and Nigeria on gender, rural credit, agricultural policy, HIV-AIDS, and environmental issues.

LaRay Denzer, Visiting Scholar, history, specializes in West African biography and social history. Her current interest is a collective biographical study of four Nigerian women nationalists.

David Easterbrook, Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies, is the curator of Northwestern’s Africana collection.

Thomas Geraghty, law, has led the Bluhm Legal Clinic’s international team project in Tanzania and Malawi.

Stephen Hill, Assistant Director, Office of Fellowships, focuses on the interface between Tanzanian music and nationalism, with special reference to the Wamatengo in southwestern Tanzania. His work shows how music reflects and aids the comprehension of new realities during periods of broad social upheaval. His other research interests include the role of gender in musical choices and how historical circumstances may stimulate musical action.

Richard Iton, African-American studies, focuses on American politics, African-American politics, the politics of popular culture, and comparative politics and public policy.

Harvey Neptune, history, specializes in Latin American and Caribbean history and the history of the African diaspora.

Rebecca Shereikis, history and ISITA coordinator, studies the French legal system in colonial Mali.