Dr. Hakim Mohandas Amani Williams is Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania, where he is also a faculty affiliate of the Education Department and Globalization Studies, and Public Policy programs. Starting August 2017, he is the College’s Director of Peace and Justice Studies. At Gettysburg, he teaches classes on human rights, postcolonialism, race, gender and identity, education for social change, Caribbean studies, and globalization, and adjuncts in the conflict resolution and mediation program at the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Teachers College, Columbia University. He completed his B.A. (Honors) in Psychology at St. Francis College, Brooklyn, a Master of Education in Comparative and International Education with a concentration in philosophy of education, and a Master of Arts and Doctorate of Education in International Educational Development, with a concentration in peace education, at Teachers College, Columbia University. His research centers on school/structural violence, educational inequities, and youth and community empowerment.
In 2013, he was the recipient of the Dr. Ralph Cavaliere Award for Excellence in Teaching. Recently, he was a Visiting Scholar (2015-2016) at the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, & Complexity (AC4), Earth Institute (Columbia University) and recipient of a US Embassy grant to conduct restorative circles, workshops on peer mediation/conflict resolution and leadership development with parents, youth and varied NGOs in Trinidad. In the past 5 years, he has given 20 presentations at academic conferences, has 12 publications, and has served for 2 years as co-chair of the Peace Education SIG of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). In 2017, he was one of the recipients of the Inaugural Emerging Scholars Award from the African Diaspora SIG of CIES.
Hakim is also a theater actor and has performed as Drakis (Lysistrata, at LaMAMA), Caliban (A Tempest, at SFC), Othello, Oliver & Demetrius (Staged reading of Shakespearean excerpts, at SFC).
Grants, Honors, & Awards
- Research and Professional Development Grant to conduct research “Youth and Community Empowerment” in Trinidad (June 10 – July 10, 2017): $4950
- Inaugural Emerging Scholar Award: Comparative and International Education Society’s African Diaspora Special Interest Group (2017)
- U.S. Embassy Grant for Restorative Justice Workshops in Trinidad (January – July 2016): $10,000
- Research and Professional Development Grant to conduct research Critical YPAR in Trinidad (Dec. 2015-July 2016): $4500
- Visiting Scholar at AC4 (Earth Institute, Columbia University): (June 1, 2015 – August 31, 2016)
- Research and Professional Development Grant to attend PAR training (in NYC, June 1-5, 2015) and data collection (in Trinidad, June 7-27, 2015): $2360
- Research and Professional Development Grant to attend a Faculty Development Course in Brazil (May 2014), entitled Community Development and Social Justice in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro: $4500
- Recipient of the Dr. Ralph Cavaliere Award for Excellence in Teaching, Gettysburg College (Fall Honors Day, Oct. 2013)
- Mellon Curriculum Development Grant, Summer 2013: $2500
- Invitation and funding to attend Innovation Lab on Dynamical Systems Theory, Peace and Conflict, July 7 – 12, 2013 (and July 20-26 2014)
- Full funding to attend Leadership for New Emergence (April 2013): (MIT)
- Grant from the Johnson Center for Creative Teacher and Learning to develop Spring 2014 Human Rights Course (Spring 2013): $2000
- Research and Professional Development Grant to develop Gettysburg College course with an overseas component, “Human Rights: Policy & Practice in the Caribbean” (Dec. 2012): $1660
- Featured in the ‘YOUth Can’ Book of Young Achievers; Winner of the ‘Youth and Community Service’ Category (2011)
- Grant recipient to attend Caribbean Studies Association’s 21st Annual Conference (May 2010)
- Earth Institute’s AC4 Research Fellowship (2009-2010) $2500
- Grant recipient to attend Southern Regional Educational Board’s Institute on Teaching and Mentoring Conference (Oct. 2009)
- Teachers College President’s Diversity Grant for Student Research (2009-2010) $1000
- CIES 2009 New Scholars Workshop Presenter and Travel Grant Recipient (March, 2009)
- Teachers College Student Senate Grant (for SIE Human Rights Film Festival- March, 2009)
- Teachers College President’s Community and Diversity Grant (for SIE) (2008-2009)
- Arthur B. Zankel Urban Fellowship (2008-2009): $10,000
- PJSA/OMNI Conference Travel Grant (2008)
- Teachers College Minority Scholarship (2007- 2009)
- Kappa Delta Pi (International Honor Society in Graduate Education) (2005)
- John F. Kennedy Award for Scholarship (2002); Top 5 Outstanding College Seniors (2002)
- Franciscan Spirit Award (2002); Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges (2001 & 2002)
- Bill Gates Millennium Scholarship (GMS) (2000-2005)
- New Student Leader Award (2000); American Scholars National Honor Society (2000)
- Franciscan Scholarship (1999-2002)
- Psi Chi (Psychology honors society) (1999)
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