Faculty and Staff

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Faculty 

Michael D. Hill

Michael D. Hill

Professor and Program Head of Africana Studies

Hill is a scholar of African-American culture, literature and history. He previously taught at the University of Iowa and Wake Forest University.

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Henryatta Ballah

Henryatta Ballah

Assistant Professor of History

Ballah’s teaching and research focus on 19th and 20th century Africa. Her book project explores the political activism of Liberian youth from 1950 to 2010.

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Niels-Hugo (Hugo) Blunch

Niels-Hugo (Hugo) Blunch

Darrold and Kay Cannan Term Professor of Economics

Blunch teaches econometrics and health economics, and also takes students to Ghana for study abroad. His research pertains to health, education and labor market issues. Previously, Blunch worked with the World Bank and the United Nations.

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Nneka Dennie

Nneka Dennie

Assistant Professor of History

Professor Dennie is a Black feminist scholar specializing in African American intellectual history. Her courses examine race and gender in the United States and the Caribbean. She is currently writing two books about 19th century Black women thinkers.

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Lena Hill

Lena Hill

Provost and Professor of English

In addition to her many duties as Provost, Hill researches and teaches courses primarily in 19th- and 20th-century African-American literature. She has written a number of books and articles on the subject.

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Mohamed Kamara

Mohamed Kamara

Department Head and Professor of Romance Languages; Campus Muslim Student Advisor

Professor Kamara holds degrees in French, English and Secondary Education. He teaches French courses in the Department of Romance Languages and also teaches in the university’s Africana Studies Program. As faculty advisor to campus Muslim students and the W&L African Society, he is a member of the Religious Staff in the Office of Inclusion and Engagement.

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Diego Millan

Diego Millan

Assistant Professor of English and Core Faculty in Africana Studies

Millan teaches upper-level courses in black diasporic literature. He has researched 19th- and 20th-century American and African-American literature and culture, black studies, performance studies, and theories of laughter and comedy.

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Lucas Morel

Lucas Morel

Department Head, John K. Boardman, Jr. Professor of Politics

Morel has taught at W&L since 1999. His teaching and research interests include American government, political theory, Abraham Lincoln, Ralph Ellison, and race and equality. He is a pre-law advisor and an accomplished writer.

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Leslie Wingard Cunningham

Leslie Wingard Cunningham

Associate Provost for Faculty Development and Professor of English and Africana Studies

As Associate Provost, Wingard Cunningham serves as a member of the provost’s leadership team, working to cultivate a coordinated, intentional and robust effort to strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion across Academic Affairs.

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Affiliated Faculty 

Adedayo (Dayo) Abah

Adedayo (Dayo) Abah

Provost Faculty Fellow and Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications

Abah teaches courses on communications law, news media, crisis communication, and international communication. Her research areas include online anonymous speech, international defamation law, copyright issues, Nollywood in African cinema, women and Nollywood, religion and the media, and immigrant media use.

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Lynn G. Chin

Lynn G. Chin

Associate Professor of Sociology

Chin teaches courses on power and status, health and inequality, and other unique topics in sociology. Her research focuses on group processes and social psychology.

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Stephanie Sandberg

Stephanie Sandberg

Associate Professor of Theater/Film

Sandberg teaches courses on screenwriting, documentary filmmaking and an ethnographic study of modern-day slavery in Ghana. Her current research focuses on theater for social justice.

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Emeritus Faculty 

David Novack

David Novack

Professor Emeritus of Sociology

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Staff 

Melissa Gualtieri

Melissa Gualtieri

Administrative Assistant

Serves as the Administrative Assistant for the Sociology and Anthropology Department, Education Studies Program, and Africana Studies Program.

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