Daniella Cook Sumpter, Ph.D., Chair

Daniella Cook Sumpter is a Professor in the Department of Teacher Education and affiliate faculty in the Department of African American Studies at the University of South Carolina. She received her doctoral degree from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her scholarship broadly explores Black education, critical race theory and methodologies, and anti-racist pedagogies. She is guided by an understanding that dismantling inequitable systemic structures requires working with, and in, communities traditionally marginalized by schooling to support their vision for education. Daniella’s early research on Black educators in New Orleans post-Katrina laid the foundation for her ongoing work solidifying her belief in the power of Black and other minoritized communities to understand, interpret, and shape the world around them. Her research has been published in the Qualitative Inquiry, The High School Journal, the International Journal of Qualitative Studies, Southern Anthropologist, and edited volumes such as The Handbook of Critical Race Theory in Education. Daniella is President Elect/Program Chair of the American Educational Studies Association and Past President of the Critical Race Studies in Education Association.

C. Spencer Platt, Ph.D., Vice Chair Treasurer

C. Spencer Platt is an Associate Professor of Higher Education Administration at the University of South Carolina.  Dr. Platt currently directs the Community College Leadership Alliance and is the former director of the Center for Innovation in Higher Education at the University of South Carolina. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, an M.S. degree from the University of Dayton, and a baccalaureate degree from the University of South Carolina. 

Dr. Platt has over twenty years of experience in student affairs, community engagement, diversity/equity, and academic affairs. His research typically focuses on equity, and excellence in education with an emphasis on underrepresented students, faculty, and staff experiences at predominantly White universities. He has secured over one million dollars in extramural funds for research through the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Platt's research is published in numerous books and articles including the Journal of College Student Development, AERA Open, and The Journal of Negro Education. He has three books: 1) From Boyhood to Manhood: Deconstructing Black Masculinity Through a Lifespan Continuum; 2) Multicultural Education in the 21st Century: Innovative Research and Practices in Higher Education and 3) Comprehensive Multicultural Education in the 21st Century: Increasing Access in An Age of Retrenchment. He has presented his work at numerous national and international academic conferences and institutes including the American Educational Research Association, the Association for the Study of Higher Education, the International Conference on Doctoral Education, and the International Colloquium on Black Males in Education.

Kendall Deas, Ph.D., Member at Large

Dr. Kendall Deas is an Assistant Professor of Education Policy, Law, and Politics with the Department of African American Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Carolina. He is a faculty affiliate with the University of South Carolina’s Institute for Rural Education and Development. Dr Deas specializes in education policy, law, and politics. He received his Ph.D in education policy and law from the University of Georgia’s Mary Frances Early College of Education. He holds a BSFS degree in international politics and a Certificate in Western European Studies from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, a M.A. degree in globalization studies from Dartmouth College’s Frank J. Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, a M.A. degree in political science from Washington University in St. Louis, and a MSPP degree in public policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Public Policy. Dr. Deas was an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow in public policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the University of Texas at Austin’s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. He was a one-year Visiting Student at Mansfield College of Oxford University and is an Emerging Diversity Scholar and New Leadership Academy Fellow in higher education leadership with the University of Michigan’s National Center for Institutional Diversity. He is a 2025 Scholars Strategy Network ESTP Fellow. Dr. Deas is a recipient of the University of South Carolina’s 2023 MLK Jr. Social Justice Award for his research on improving public education and public education advocacy in South Carolina as a co-founder and Director of the Quality Education Project. Her served on the Executive Board as Treasurer and Vice President of USC’s Postdoctoral Association. He is the editor-in-chief for the peer reviewed journal, Journal of Educational Foundations (JEF) and is also on the editorial board for the peer-reviewed journal Education Law and Policy Review. A Fulbright Scholar to Finland, his research interests are focused upon the politics of PK-12 education reform, eradicating the achievement gap, examining the issue of education reform as it concerns the use of culturally relevant teaching pedagogies, and exploring the transformational capacities of education shaped by policies designed to achieve greater equity and social justice for least advantaged populations.

Pamela Martin, Ph.D., Member at Large

Dr. Martin joined the Department of Psychology and African American Studies Program in Spring 2021. She earned a B.S. in Psychology from the University of South Carolina, M.A. in Psychology from North Carolina Central University, and a Ph.D. in Ecological/Community Psychology and Urban Studies from Michigan State University.  After finishing her graduate training, Dr. Martin completed a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Programs for Research on Black Americans at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.  

My research agenda examines African American church-based health interventions that support a continuum of health services from prevention to linkage to care with church members and community members using church outreach services. I have established three areas of exploration: 1) theological orientations and behavioral outcomes, 2) development of a theological orientation church climate scale, and 3) religious socialization and health outcomes among African Americans.

For more information, please visit her lab website.

Shaun Owens, Ph.D., M.P.H., Member at Large

Professor Shaun Owens joined the faculty of the College of Social Work in 2014, where he is also director for the Healthy Aging Research and Technology (HART) Lab. The lab focuses on community-led development and evaluation of translational, technology-based solutions to help older adults make informed health decisions that will enable them to age in place. He also serves as the associate director for strategy and innovation for the SmartHOME Center for Economic Excellence whose mission is to help seniors maintain independent mobility inside the home.

Owens’ research interests are investigating creative strategies for promoting health and cancer equity through strategic communications with diverse populations, developing and/ or evaluating technology for health promotion and informed decision making in aging adults, and leveraging smart and connected health for supporting affordable/accessible housing for supporting aging-in-place. Owens is currently a principal investigator National Institute for Aging-funded grant to study the acceptance and feasibility of remote monitoring technology among rural-dwelling African-Americans with early stage dementia and their care partners. 

Owens recent publications focus on the investigation of technology such as generative AI chatbots, for cancer decision making. He has co-authored scientific journal articles on topics including, the recruitment of African-American men for a prostate cancer education program, the iterative development of a computer-based decision aid for prostate cancer and building an evidence base for promoting informed prostate cancer screening. His publications have been featured in scholarly journals, including Qualitative Social Work, Ethnicity & Disease, the American Journal of Health Education, and the Journal of Medical Internet Research. Owens received his Master of Public, Health Management and Policy from the Emory Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta. He earned his Ph.D. in health promotion, education and behavior from the University of South Carolina.  

Curisa Tucker, Ph.D., RN, Member at Large

Dr. Tucker has 10 years of bedside labor and delivery nursing experience. In 2021, she received a PhD in Nursing Science from the University of South Carolina, College of Nursing. After receiving her doctorate, Dr. Tucker received additional research training as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University, School of Medicine with a focus in perinatal epidemiology. As a nurse scientist, her research centers on advancing maternal health equity by addressing social determinants of health that shape outcomes such as severe maternal morbidity, peripartum cardiomyopathy, and postpartum readmissions. Her work focuses on understanding the complex interplay of structural and social factors influencing maternal health, with an emphasis on how these determinants exacerbate racial and ethnic disparities.