Postdoctoral Fellowhsip

Work, Poverty and Criminal Justice
The New School of Liberal Arts
2013

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Criminal Justice
Rutgers University
2011

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Corrections Administration
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
2004

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

Administration of Justice/Criminology Certificate
Rutgers University (New Brunswick)
2002

Study Abroad - Non Degree

Family Law/ Psychology
University of Natal, Pietermaritzberg (South Africa)
2001

HU Freshman Experience

Howard University's Freshman Experience is a single-credit, pass or fail course offered every fall semester. This course is required of all First Time In College (FTIC)/Freshman students. The course is designed to ease the student's transition from high school to college life and prepare students for collegiate success beyond their first year. In addition, this interdisciplinary cohort experience will center on applied learning and innovative pedagogy through critical debates clustered around required readings, guest speakers, local excursions, current events, and emerging contemporary themes. Students will identify, discuss and reflect upon academic, career, and personal goals. Seminar participants will be introduced to the legacy of Howard University and unique opportunities for building Howard pride by becoming acquainted with the higher learning landscape and being immersed into the culture of Chocolate City and the Greater Washington, D.C. metro community.

Principles of Criminal Justice: Dual Enrollment College in High School Program

This introductory National Educational Equity Lab (NEEL) partnership course serves as a foundation into the criminal justice system. In this course students will explore the key concepts of the criminal justice system and critically think about issues emerging in 21st century media. In addition, students will debate current controversy as it relates to the principles of criminal justice. Students are challenged to consider a range of criminal justice policy debates raised by the following questions: What components make up the criminal justice system?, How is crime defined and measured?, How is the system used to deter crime and promote peace?, Who is affected by the criminal justice system? How?, What are the theoretical explanations of criminal behavior?, What are the emerging issues for the 21st century in criminal justice?

Inside Out: Crime and Justice Behind the Wall

This course is a unique opportunity to explore issues of crime and justice from inside a correctional facility. The course brings together Howard University students and students who are incarcerated to learn about and discuss topics such as the causes of crime, victims, the rationale of the criminal justice system, and restorative justice. Through the readings and dialogue, inside and outside students will be able to integrate their theoretical knowledge with lived experiences. It is through this exchange the course allows students to critically analyze and challenge the current system in the U.S. that has resulted in a higher incarceration rate than other similar countries. Each week various topics are discussed. With the successful completion of the course students receive and official certificate of completion endorsed by Howard University and the partnering correctional facility.

Inside Out: Crime and Justice Behind the Wall (Writing Intensive)

This course is a unique opportunity to explore issues of crime and justice from inside a correctional facility. The course follows a similar course content format as stated above. The course is writing intensive and satisfied the university requirement for a third-writing course. As such, assignments consist of weekly five-page reflection papers that must be submitted at the end of each session. In addition, all students write a reflection on the required in-service volunteer training and experiences during the closing ceremony. At the completion of the course all students will submit a total of 15 journal reflections, to total 45-75 pages of written reflections.

Mass Incarceration and the Black Family

This course examines the historical, social, and economic dimensions of mass incarceration and its profound impact on Black families in the United States. Through an interdisciplinary approach, students will explore the origins and policies fueling mass incarceration, analyze its effects on family structures, and discuss pathways toward justice and reform. Topics include the prison-industrial complex, intergenerational trauma, the economic burdens of incarceration, and community resilience. Students will engage in critical discussions, multimedia analysis, and collaborative projects to deepen their understanding of the topic.

Children of Incarcerated Parents

This course critically analyzes the effects of incarceration on minor and adult children who have experienced parental imprisonment. During this course students will systematically review the process and impacts of parental incarceration, to include: arrest (entry into the criminal legal system), incarceration (physical and psychological separation, obstacles to visitation and contact), reentry (reestablishing parental relationships and dealing with changing household relationships and dynamics) and re-incarceration (a parent’s entry into the criminal legal system with prior criminal history). At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to: Discuss the impact of parental incarceration on their children, Identify the potential collateral consequences of parental incarceration, and Describe programs that have been developed to keep parents connected to their children during and after incarceration. 

Crime, In(justice) & Paris (Study Abroad)

This honors social science course will provide students with experiential learning opportunities inside local prisons, jails, detention centers, with law enforcement, and othercriminal legal system officials. Seminar discussions will be structured around social justice frameworks and city life to center the thoughts, narratives, and philosophies of currently and formerly incarcerated Black people and their families. Seminar content will revolve around in(justices) within the criminal legal system, nationally and abroad from the prism of directly impacted Black communities. All students are required to participate in on-campus and off-campus activities, weekly field-journal presentations, Justice Sundays Open Dialogue at HU and a 7-day study abroad experience in Paris during Spring Recess (March 1 – March 10). This social science seminar will shed light on national and global social (in)justice topics, with many of the discussions being guided by a crime and city life comparative analysis of DC and Paris.

Crime, In(justice) & Uganda (Study Abroad)

In Preperation. TBD.

School to Prison Pipeline (Social Justice Certificate/ Interdisciplinary Studies)

The School to Prison Pipeline has become a popularized term, often used without full understanding of what it truly means, how this label affects youth, and the ways in which it shapes the consciousness and policy of schools across that nation that have come accustomed to creating the Black delinquent. Through this social justice course, we will explore the history of youth of color in the juvenile legal system, through the story of Black youth, specifically detained and incarcerated Black youth. In the United States the conversation about the juvenile legal system often is limited to the experiences of White affluent youth, without mention of the violent and dehumanizing experiences that led to the create of the system that continues to erase, exploit, and miseducate Black children and young adults. We are studying the School to Prison Pipeline as a lens to explore this history since it is one of the main avenues by which Black people remain contemporarily enslaved within the detention industrial complex. Black youth, their families and hoods have always served as a means of helping them achieve liberation, knowledge, respect and understanding and it is a struggle that continues today.

Fellowship & Scholarships

Program Mentor Award, Research Development Institute CJR Hidden Curriculum Fellow Summit, TSU, 2025 

Inaugural CETLA Fellow, Howard University Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Assessment, 2024 -2026 

Inaugural Honors Faculty Fellow, Howard University College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program, 2023-2026

Lumen Circles Fellow, Online Teaching Foundation, CETLA, 2021

D.C. Department of Corrections (DCDOC), Research and Policy Fellow, 2019

United States Department of State, Franklin Fellow-Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Office, 2017-2018

HU ADVANCE-IT Follow-the-Leader Fellowship Project: Publish Never Perish, 2016

HU ADVANCE-IT Writing Retreat Fellow, 2015

Advanced Summer Faculty Research Fellowship, 2015

HU Teach 2 Teaching with Technology Fellowship, 2015

Summer Faculty Research Fellowship, 2014

Research

Trailblazer Civic Award- Outstanding Social Justice Research, Women Ambassadors Foundation, 2023

Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, Research Fellow, 2020-2023

Mandela Washington Reciprocal Exchange Fellow, International Research & Exchange Board (IREX), 2020-2021

Assessment Fellow, Howard University Institutional Research and Assessment, Office of the Provost, 2019

Trailblazer Award for Groundbreaking Achievement in Research and Scholarship, Black Muslim Psychology Conference, Muslim Wellness Foundation (Philadelphia, PA), 2018

Summer Fellow, Junior Faculty Writing and Creative Works Retreat, 2018

Summer Fellow, Howard University Interdisciplinary Research Retreat, 2016

Most Outstanding Presentation by Junior Faculty Researcher, Howard University, Research Day, 2014

Excellent Paper Presentation, Howard University, Leslie H. Hicks Research Symposium, 2014

Teaching

Outstanding Teacher Award (Associate Professor), College of Arts and Sciences, Howard University, 2021-2022

Professor of the Year, Howard University, Excellence Awards, Bison Ball, 2019

Summer Teaching Fellow, HU Teach VI, CETLA 2018

Female Faculty Member of the Year, Nomination, HBCU Digest, 2018

Global Teacher Prize, Nomination, 2017

U.S. Marines Campus Hero-Fox 5 News, 2017

Professor of the Year, Howard University, Excellence Awards, 2017

Teaching with Technology Conference Presenter Certificate, CETLA, 2016

Teaching with Technology Award, Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Assessment, 2016

Professor of the Year, Howard University, Excellence Awards, 2015

Professor of the Year, Howard University, Excellence Awards, 2014

Service

Heroes of Hope, DC Department of Corrections, 2024

Partner Impact Award, The DC Department of Corrections, 2024

Appreciation Award, The Metropolitan Police Department, Cadet Corp Branch, HSCC, 2023

Robert L. Perry Mentoring Award, Association for Ethnic Studies, 2023

Appreciation Award, The Metropolitan Police Department, Cadet Corp Branch, HSCC, 2023

Featured Honoree, Voices for A Second Chance-50th Anniversary Gala (Washington, DC), 2019

George Strawn Volunteer Award, District of Columbia-Department of Corrections (DCDOC), 2018

“Liberating the Free” Visionary Award, Not Without My Hijab National Committee, 2018

Community Role Model Award, MOM Network (Arlington, VA), 2018

Community Service Award, SMILE Inc., 2016

Volunteer of the Year, Bureau of Prisons- Alderson Federal Prison Camps, 2016

Human Rights Award, New Jersey Education Association, Advocacy Award, 2015

Certificates

Certificate of Completion, D.C. Mandated Reporter, 2025

Certificate of Completion, Petey Greene Program Virtual Training, 2025

Certificate of Appreciation, DC Correctional Detention Facility (DC Jail), 2024

Certificate of Completion, Women in Leadership, Harvard Division of Continuing Education, 2023

Certificate of Completion, Teens and Police Service (TAPS) Academy, 2023

Certificate of Appreciation, Metropolitan Police Department- The Cadet Corp Branch, 2023

Certificate of Appreciation, DC Department of Corrections, 2018

Certificate of Appreciation, DC Jail- Young Men Emerging Unit, 2018

Certificate of Recognition, Mayor Catherine E. Pugh-City of Baltimore for Baltimore City Youth and Girls Expecting More Success, Inc., 2017

Breaking Generational Curses

Breaking Generational Curses: Success and Opportunity among Black Children of Incarcerated Parents

Black children are disproportionately represented among the children of incarcerated mothers and fathers in the United States. Research has largely focused on negative life outcomes (e.g., incarceration, negative behaviors, school dropout rates) of these children. Findings center on the ways adult Black children of incarcerated parents define success, which differs from middle-class, Eurocentric definitions of economic success, college graduation, marriage, and children as the success indicators. Success in relationships, community, education, and mental health emerged as the themes that define success.

“We Have Unique Experiences”

“We Have Unique Experiences”: Familial Socialization of Children of Incarcerated Parents

As millions of parents are held behind bars, there is a growing concern not only for the outcome for these individuals, but for their children. Researchers have pointed to familial socialization as a way for children to navigate their perceived social identities and combat negative outcomes. Thus, this study explored how family members mitigate adverse life outcomes for 82 adult children of incarcerated parents in a similar function as other social identifications. The findings illustrate four interconnected agents of parental incarceration socialization: “the talk,” familial beliefs, relationship with the incarcerated parent, and expression and navigation. Similar to other social identities, a socialization process occurs for children of incarcerated parents, which informs how they should navigate society.

Why Race Matters for Higher Education in Prison

Why Race Matters for Higher Education in Prison

This essay will address issues of racial inequity and injustice within higher education in prison programs—examining issues of faculty diversity, pedagogy, and barriers students impacted by the criminal legal system face in continuing their higher education upon release. In addressing these barriers, there is an opportunity to overcome racial inequity at a massive scale and set an example, both for higher education communities and society as a whole.

The Confluence of Language and Learning Disorders

The Confluence of Language and Learning Disorders and the School-to-Prison Pipeline among Minority Students of Color: A Critical Race Theory

Although African Americans make up a mere 13% of the U.S population, they comprise over 40% of young adult inmates in jails and prisons. To date, one in twenty-three white males are sentenced to jail in their lifetime as compared to one in four black males.' These numbers are likely to be most prevalent amongst minority male students from low socio-economic backgrounds, whose school districts have less resources. To this extent, disproportionate mass incarceration continues to produce long-term
detrimental effects such as: 1) reinforcement of violent behavior and attitudes; 2) limited education; 3) exacerbated mental health issues and learning disabilities; and 4) increased future involvement in the criminal justice system.

Mothering from the Field

Mothering from the Field: The Impact of Motherhood on Site-Based Research

Mothering from the Field offers both a mosaic of perspectives from current women scientists’ experiences of conducting field research across a variety of sub-disciplines while raising children, and an analytical framework to understand how we can redefine methodological and theoretical contributions based on mothers’ experiences in order not just to promote healthier, more inclusive, nurturing, and supportive environments in physical, life, and social sciences, but also to revolutionize how we conceptualize research.

Black Children of Incarcerated Parents Speak Truth to Power

Black Children of Incarcerated Parents Speak Truth to Power: Social Revolution

This book centers directly impacted Black children who have lived through parental incarceration. Their stories are told from holistic perspectives incorporating the full range of collateral consequences. Shifting from the Eurocentric and capitalistic viewpoint, they move us beyond negative outcomes to a positive prism by providing insider perspective, strategy, advice, and compelling experiences. We center Black children of incarcerated parents’ (BCOIP’s) rich narratives to show how they are conscious thinkers with perspectives that can help reimagine all Black children’s lives and futures.

The Prison Alphabet

The Prison Alphabet: An Educational Coloring Book for Children of Incarcerated Parents

The Prison Alphabet allows each letter of the alphabet to serve as a topic of discussion. By using the letters of the alphabet, this book is a child-friendly approach to helping young children begin to understand what is going on behind bars with their parent or family member

Mass Incarceration

Mass Incarceration: Perpetuating the “Habits of Survival” and Race Identities of Black Women Caregivers to Children of Incarcerated Parents

In the research presented here, we use Scott’s (1991) “habits of surviving” and additional stress-related perspectives to inform the facets of strain experienced by Black women. In particular, we analyzed in-depth interviews from Black women who were caregivers to children of incarcerated parents. Caregivers encounter significant life changes as a result of the incarceration event, the persisting challenges, increasing ambiguity, and burgeoning obligations. The research demonstrates that the caregivers adapted to the compounding stress related to incarceration and caregiving by exercising a survival process that required the women to make sacrifices with little regard to their own psychological and physical health.