Howard University is pleased to announce the appointment of Benjamin Talton, Ph.D., as director of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (MSRC). In this role, Talton will report to the provost and chief academic officer, Anthony Wutoh, Ph.D. A historian of Africa and the African diaspora, Talton joins Howard University following a 20-year career in the academy, including, most recently, at Temple University, where he was professor of history.
A son of Howard University, Talton received his Bachelor of Arts in history from Alma Mater, before completing a Master of Arts and a doctorate at the University of Chicago. A highly respected author, Talton’s publications include three books: “The Politics of Social Change in Ghana: The Konkomba Struggle for Political Equality” (Palgrave, 2010); “Black Subjects in Africa and its Diasporas: Race and Gender in Research and Writing” (Palgrave, 2011), which he wrote with Quincy Mills of the University of Maryland, College Park; and, most recently, “In This Land of Plenty: Mickey Leland and Africa in American Politics” (Penn Press, 2019), which won the 2020 Wesley-Logan Prize from the American Historical Association. Talton’s work has also appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals and popular media outlets, including The Washington Post, Jacobin, Current History, the Journal of Asian and African Studies, The Conversation, Ghana Studies and Africa Is A Country.
Talton is an editor of African Studies Review, the leading African studies journal in the U.S. He also serves on the executive board of the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora (ASWAD) and is a past president of the Ghana Studies Association.
The MSRC is one of the world’s premier centers for the study of the global Black experience. The director oversees the center’s archives, library, programming and administration. A unique resource for students, scholars and the community, the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center continues its proud legacy of preserving the history of people of African descent for this and future generations.
“I extend my deepest thanks to Dr. Clifford Muse, who recently retired after a long and respected tenure as the director of MSRC,” said Wutoh. “Please join me in both welcoming Dr. Talton and acknowledging Muse for his years of service.”
