AFAM Research

Chielozona Eze earned his PhD from Purdue University in English and Philosophy, his M.F.A., from Purdue University in English and Creative Writing (Fiction), his MA, in Comparative Literature/German from the University of Bayreuth, Germany, and his MA in Catholic Theology from Franz Joseph University, Innsbruck, Austria, and lastly his BA in Philosophy where  he graduated Magna cum laude.

His area of specialization is in Philosophy, Postcolonial African Literature, and Twentieth Century Anglophone World Literature.  Also, his research interests include Literature and Human Values. The courses he teach at Northeastern Illinois University include African and African American literatures, World literatures in English. Literary Criticism & Theory.

Alfred Frankowski earned his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon where he studied continental philosophy, philosophy of race, and aesthetics. His primary research interest focuses on the role of remembrance and injustice. More broadly, he is interested in the social importance of the history of philosophy, literature, and the arts.



He is currently working on a book length manuscript called The Cassandra Complex: On Violence, Racism, and Mourning, that analyzes the role of post-racial memory in the context of the aesthetics of memorials to cultural trauma.

Jeanine Ntihirageza holds a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Chicago, with a specialization in Bantu languages. She has an MA in Applied Linguistics from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.  She received her BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Burundi where she subsequently taught TEFL and EFL classes as a Lecturer.  She came to the United States on a Fulbright Scholarship to do her graduate studies.  Her current research interests are in Linguistics and Genocide in Africa and the African Diaspora.    In addition, she is currently working on an online bilingual Kirundi-English dictionary with Teddy Bofman and Paul Prez.

She is an Associate Professor at Northeastern Illinois University and Department Chair of Anthropology, English Language Program (ELP), Philosophy, and Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language (TESL).  She is also on the core faculty of the African and African American Studies program.  (j-ntihirageza@neiu.edu )

Cris Toffolo is Professor and Chair of Justice Studies at Northeastern Illinois University. Her publications include: The Arab League, Chelsea House, 2008, and Emancipating Cultural Pluralism, ed., SUNY, 2003. Cris has developed, evaluated, and taught in study abroad programs in Guatemala, Ghana, Bangladesh and Northern Ireland. While on sabbatical in South Africa (2005-06) she was a Senior Researcher at CARRAS, a human rights NGO for which she conducted research on anti-racism training programs and economic policy. She is co-chair of the board of the Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA), and previously she chaired the board of the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA).

 From 1991-2011 she served as Amnesty International (USA)’s Pakistan Country Specialist, and she now serves on the Priorities Subcommittee of the Board of AIUSA. Her areas of research & teaching include human rights, conflict resolution, peace education, theories of justice, social movements, and the politics of the Global South. She received a Ph.D. and MA from the University of Notre Dame; an MA from George Washington University; and a BS from Alma College, cum laude.