Our Faculty

• Edmund Abaka, Ph.D. (York University, 1998)
  Associate Professor of History
  
  • Africana Studies: 305-284-6340 / Building 21 V
    
  • History: 305-284-3702 / 612 Ashe
    
  • Email

  A graduate of the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, Professor Abaka earned his M.A. degree (European History) at the University of Guelph in Canada and a Ph.D. in African History at York. He teaches the general African history survey classes (History of Africa to 1800 and Africa Since 1800), and also offers specialized courses on Southern Africa (up to Nelson Mandela), Egypt and the Nile Valley (Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia), West Africa Since 1800, and Pan-Africanism. His graduate classes include Africa and the African Diaspora, Slavery and Emancipation, European Expansion in Africa: Colonialism and Imperialism, Pan-Africanism: Africa, the Caribbean and the United States and African Historiography.

  Professor Abaka has published a number of articles on kola (one of the original ingredients for Coca-Cola), the colonial period in African history, and African youth. His monograph titled "Kola is God's Gift": Agricultural Production, Export Initiatives and the Kola Industry of Asante and the Gold Coast, c. 1820-1950 (James Currey & Ohio University Press, Oxford; Ohio University Press, Athens; Woeli Publishing Services, Accra), came out in 2005. He has just published an article in France on "the Driving Forces Behind France's Colonial Policy in Africa."

  He is currently working on a number of projects: The Gold Coast/Ghana Slave Forts and Castles in African Diaspora History; The Hausa Diaspora in Asante and the Gold Coast and the Gold Coast Contribution to the Allied War Effort (1939-1945).

  Every summer he takes students to Ghana in the only Study Abroad Program to Africa.

• Patti Rose, Ed.D. (Columbia University Teachers College)
  Visiting Assistant Professor
  
  • Africana Studies: 305-284-6340 / Building 21 V
  • Email

  Dr. Patti Rose is an energetic, dynamic and highly sought after national and international speaker who has given keynote addresses, conference presentations and workshops, based on invitations and abstract acceptances, at venues such as the American Public Health Association (APHA), International Health Conferences in Nairobi Kenya, Barcelona, Spain, Paris, France, Aruba, N.A., St. Thomas, V.I., Puerto Rico, U.S. and many national college, university, hospital, community health center and other settings. Her training and life experiences lend her uniquely to expertise in the areas of health care administration and diversity/cultural competency. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York. Subsequently, she acquired her Master’s Degree (MPH) in Health Services Administration from the Yale University School of Public Health followed by her Doctorate from Columbia University Teachers College where she obtained a Doctorate (Ed.D) in Health Education.
  Dr. Rose’s passion is to travel the globe to understand the world beyond where she currently resides, in Miami, Fl (born and raised in Queens, NY) and to share her knowledge of various cultures, globalism and diversity with all whom she encounters through lectures, teaching and speaking engagements. She has traveled to Fiji, Africa (South Africa, Kenya, Senegal and the Cape Verde Islands), Sri Lanka, Japan, Europe (Spain, Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands), the Caribbean (Jamaica, Tortola, , St. Thomas, Barbados) Haiti, Aruba, N.A, Latin and Central America (Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic) and beyond. Her focus has been primarily the African Diaspora throughout her travels. She currently has a specific and intense concern for the people of Darfur, Sudan in Africa for which she has given several presentations toward educating audiences about this most pressing issue.

  Currently, Dr. Rose is the President of Rose Consulting, Inc. in Miami, FL and a Visiting Assistant Professor for the Africana Studies and American Studies Programs at the University of Miami. She recently served as the President and CEO of Plainfield Health Center in Plainfield, NJ. Additionally, she also served as the Vice President of Behavioral Health Services at Economic Opportunity Family Health Center (EOFHC), Inc., a large, community health center in Miami, FL. Dr. Rose has significant academic experience which has included serving as Lecturer for the Yale University School of Public Health, Lecturer for the University of Miami Executive MBA Program in Health Services Administration and as an Adjunct Professor at Springfield College and Worcester State College, both located in Massachusetts. Her full-time academic positions were as Associate Professor at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL and Assistant Professor at Florida International University in Miami, FL where she taught in graduate level Public Health programs for the respective institutions. She has also served as an Adjunct Professor for the Barry University Master of Science Program in Health Services Administration and Lecturer for the University of Miami Africana Studies Program and their School of Education. She has developed new courses for the Department of Africana Studies at the University of Miami entitled Black Women in Medicine and Healing, Race and Healthcare in America, Contemporary Issues in African American History, Culture, Race and Diversity Issues in the United States and Black Women in History.

  Dr. Rose has participated in a number of community service efforts. Her professional affiliations have included the American College of Health Care Executives, the American Public Health Association, the Black Executive Forum, Inc, the National Association of Health Services Executives and the Yale University Alumni Association. She currently serves as a candidate interviewer for Yale University prospective students. She was recently inducted into the Public Health Service Honor Roll at the Yale University School of Public Health for her long term commitment to public health service and was appointed by the United States Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology to serve in the capacity of Examiner on the 2004 Board of Examiners of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Recently, she served as the Facilitator for the HIP HOP Cultural Summit through the Office of the Mayor of Miami Beach to try and foster understanding and ensure quality dialogue around diversity issues between the HIP HOP culture and the Miami Beach Police Force. She also received a congressional certificate for serving her community, Miami-Dade County, in the area of healthcare. Additionally, her longstanding career has included serving as a Member of the Technical Advisory Committee for CATCH (Comprehensive Assessment for Tracking Community Health: Miami Dade County Health Department and the Health Council of South Florida), as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Florida Alliance to Eradicate Childhood Lead Poisoning (FAECLP) in Miami, FL, as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Perinatal Health Start Coalition in Miami, FL and as a member of the Advisory Board of the Miami Dade Community College Midwifery Program . She was also an Objective Grant Reviewer for Broward County Board of County Commissioner's, Children's Service Administration and has significant grant writing experience bringing in millions of dollars for various organizations from State and Federal grantors through her consultation for and while holding positions at various healthcare organizations.

  Dr. Rose is a published author of a book entitled In Search of Serenity, published by Third World Press of Chicago in 1993. She also has several published articles including a piece in the Harvard Journal of Minority Public Health, which focused on Teenage Pregnancy in the Black community. She also developed a DVD entitled “Cultural Competency: A Public Health Imperative” through her consultation for a project directed through the Alumni Office of the Yale University School of Public Health. She is currently working on a textbook, to be published by Jones and Bartlett Publishing with a release date in 2009.

  Dr. Rose has been married for 23 years and is the mother of two college students with a daughter in graduate school at Harvard University and a son in completing his undergraduate degree at Yale University. The most important aspect of her life is her family and she enjoys traveling, Middle Eastern and African dance, yoga, swimming, writing and reading.

Affiliated Faculty

Dr. Robin Bachin	Department of History
Dr. Anthony Barthelemy	Department of English
Dr. Jomills Braddock	Department of Sociology
Dr. Ann Brittain	Department of Anthropology
Dr. Russell Castronovo	Department of English
Dr. Marvin P. Dawkins	Department of Sociology
Dean Rita Deutsch	Department of English
Dr. Richard J. Grant	Department of Geography and Regional Studies
Dr. Robert Halberstein	Department of Anthropology
Mr. J. Tomas Lopez	Department of Art and Art History
Dr. Robert F. Moore	School of Education
Dr. Brenna M. Munro	Department of English
Dr. John Murphy	Department of Sociology
Dr. Sandra Paquet	Department of English
Dr. Lindsey Tucker	Department of English
Dr. Kate Ramsey	Department of History
Dr. Patricia Saunders	Department of English
Dr. Donald Spivey	Department of History
Tsitsi Wakhisi	School of Communication
Dr. George Wilson	Department of Sociology
Dr. Ashley White	Department of History

Part-time Faculty

Dr. Jean-Robert Cadely	FIU
Dr. Preston W. Marshall	Africana Studies
Dr. Pierre-Michel Fontaine	Africana Studies
Dr. Robert Strain	FMU