CURRICULUM
VITAE.

01 EDUCATION

2025 — MFA, Fine Arts Studio
          Rochester Institute of Technology
          Sculpture, Installation, Photography        

2011 — EdD, Curriculum & Instruction
          Loyola University Chicago        

2007 — MEd, Teaching Curriculum
          California State University, Dominguez Hills        

2005 — BA, Journalism
          Columbia College Chicago        

02 ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

2025–Present
          Visiting Assistant Professor of Visual Arts
          Morehouse College        

2019–Present
          Lecturer, African American & Diaspora Studies
          Xavier University of Louisiana        

2015–2016
          Assistant Professor of Sociology
          University of Belize        

2011–2015; 2016–2019
          Lecturer, Justice Studies
          Northeastern Illinois University        

2008–2009
          Adjunct Instructor
          Loyola University Chicago        

03 RESEARCH & CREATIVE PRACTICE

Black Tea Rhapsody
          Oral-history, archival, photographic, and          material-culture project examining African          American tea culture.        

Divine
          Experimental film and field-based artistic          research exploring African diasporic spiritual          knowledge systems.        

Critical Black Expressionism
          Womanist theoretical framework exploring          Black expressive production as intellectual          practice and knowledge production.        

Black Abundance
          Archival research in development examining          Black refinement, hospitality, and public          belonging in midcentury Los Angeles.        

04 SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Black Tea Rhapsody
          Exhibition book, 2026.        

Black Tea Rhapsody
          Archival codex, institutional edition, 2026.        

Reexamining Reentry
          Lexington Academic Publishing, 2017.          Published as R. West.        

The Book of Luvon:          Art, Culture, and Practice
          Manuscript submitted to RIT Press          following peer review, 2026.        

Critical Black Expressionism:          Knowledge and Creative Production          in the African Diaspora
          Book proposal, 2026.        

05 SELECTED EXHIBITIONS & FILMS

2026
          Black Tea Rhapsody
          Robert W. Woodruff Library,          Atlanta University Center        

2026
          Divine: Hoodoo Conjure in the Lowcountry          and Call + Response
          DreamMakers Summit, Morehouse College        

2025
          Pedagogy of the Distressed
          Solo exhibition, Joy Gallery,          Rochester, New York        

2025
          Iyami Aje: Mothers + Witches
          RIT City Art Space        

2025
          The Great Mother
          Experimental short film        

2023–2025
          Black Tea Rhapsody, traveling exhibition
          New Orleans, Philadelphia, Rochester        

06 COLLECTIONS & ARCHIVES

Wallace Library Special Collections
          Rochester Institute of Technology
          SweetPea, RIT Purchase Prize, 2025        

07 FELLOWSHIPS & HONORS

2026
          DreamMakers Summit          Innovation Recognition Award        

2026
          Public Social Sciences and Humanities          Mini-Grant Award        

2025–Present
          Innovation Lab Fellow,          Andrew Young Center,          Morehouse College        

2025
          RIT Purchase Prize, SweetPea        

2024
          Artist Residency, Unpack Studios,          Havana, Cuba        

08 SCHOLARSHIP & LEADERSHIP

2027 — Accepted Roundtable
          College Art Association Annual Conference
          Divine: Field-Based Artistic Research        

2026
          International Nineteenth-Century Studies          Association Conference        

2026
          Unsettling Heritage and Memory Futures,          University of Amsterdam        

Founder & Creative Director
          Living Archive of Diasporic Knowledge          (LADKno)        

2026–2029
          Juror, Excellence in Diversity Award,          College Art Association