Faculty

Ronald R. Sundstrom is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of San Francisco. He is also a member of USF’s African American Studies program and teaches for the university’s Honors College. He is the Humanities Advisor for the SF Urban Film Festival and a co-convener of the Black Philosophy Consortium; additionally, he is involved with academic organizations seeking to build bridges between academic philosophy and public policy, such as the Public Philosophy Network, the North American...

David is an assistant professor at the University of San Francisco. His research interests are natural language processing, machine learning, and databases — specifically on the personal and cultural/demographic information transmitted during speech and typing. This research may lead to more accurate speech recognition systems.

Prior to joining USF, David was a research assistant in the Speech Lab at Queens College and an instructor at Hunter College. He has previously worked for the City of...

J. Garrett-Walker is an associate professor in the department of psychology at the University of San Francisco. She earned a B.A. from University of San Francisco and a PhD from the Graduate Center of City University of New York.

Professor Garrett-Walker is a developmental psychologist whose research focuses on multiple identity development for Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) emerging adults. She utilizes quantitative and qualitative methodologies to examine the...

Candice Harrison joined the department in Fall 2008 after completing her PhD at Emory University. Her teaching interests span the eras of colonial and nineteenth century U.S. history, and include the subjects of economic and labor history, African American history, American popular culture, and comparative race and slavery in the Atlantic World.

Recently, Dr. Harrison received a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to support her current book manuscript entitled "Democratizing the Market...

Emille D. Lawrence is a low-dimensional topologist. Her mathematical interests include braid groups, geometric group theory, and spatial graphs. She is also an advocate for broadening participation in the mathematical sciences through outreach and mentoring.

Zachary Reese's research focuses on social comparison, competition, and close relationships. He teaches Research Design, Writing in Psychology, Social Psychology, and African-American Psychology.

Dr. Stephanie Sears has been a member of the USF faculty since 2002. She is a faculty member in the Department of Sociology and African American Studies and Critical Diversity Studies programs. Before her current role as Associate Dean of Social Sciences, Dr. Sears served as the College of Arts and Science faculty director of JEDI, the director of the African American Studies Program, Chair of Sociology, Chair of the Arts Council, Co-chair of College Council, Co-Director of the Marshall-Riley...

Professor James Lance Taylor is from Glen Cove, Long Island. He is author of the book Black Nationalism in the United States: From Malcolm X to Barack Obama, which earned 2012 "Outstanding Academic Title" - Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries. (Ranked top 2 percent of 25,000 books submitted and top 8 percent of 7,300 actually accepted for review by the American Library Association). Rated “Best of the Best.” The hardback version sold out in the U.S. and the paperback version was...