Nigel Westmaas

Nigel Westmaas is the author of A Political Glossary of Guyana (2021). He has made substantial contributions to various scholarly publications, including a chapter in the book Black Power in the Post-Independence Anglophone Caribbean (2014). Furthering his engagement with Black radical thought, Westmaas contributed to The Fire that Time: Transnational Black Radicalism and the Sir George Williams Occupation with his analysis titled "Musings on Walter Rodney, the Black Power movement, and Race and Class in Guyana” (2022). Additionally, he co-wrote an article with Alissa Trotz titled “Insurgent Knowledges: Reading How Europe Underdeveloped Africa alongside the rupture in Guyana” for Small Axe journal (2023). His research also extends to the Marcus Garvey Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers Caribbean series project, published by the University of California Press.

Westmaas's research interests include the history of the newspaper press, Pan-Africanism, and the rise and impact of political and social movements, primarily in the Anglophone Caribbean. He earned his doctorate in Sociology from SUNY Binghamton.

Recent Courses Taught

Global Race and Sports
Blackness Across Diaspora
Understanding Caribbean Carnival
Global Black Rebellion

Selected Publications

• A Political Glossary of Guyana (Edwin Mellen Press)  (2021)

• “Insurgent Knowledges: Reading How Europe Underdeveloped Africa  alongside the rupture in Guyana” Small Axe journal (November) (co-written with Dr. Alissa Trotz) 2023
• “Musings on Walter Rodney, the Black Power movement and Race and Class in Guyana”  in The Fire that Time: Transnational Black Radicalism and the Sir George Williams   Occupation. Black Rose books (2022)

• Firebrands, Trade Unionists and Marxists: The Shadow of the Russian Revolution, the Colonial state, and the Emergence of the Left in Guyana, 1917- 1956, in The Red and the Black: The Russian Revolution and the Black Atlantic. (Vol 1, Manchester University Press)w (2021)

• “An Organic pan-Africanist: Eusi Kwayana, Guyana and global pan-Africanism," in  Black Power in the Post-Independence Anglophone Caribbean (University Press of  Florida, 2014)

College Service

Committee on Athletics, 2012-15
Faculty advisor, Black and Latino Student Union (BLSU), 2012
Committee on Academic Standing (COA), 2010
Executive member, Diversity and Social Justice Project, 2008
Athletics Subcommittee (Strategic Planning Subcommittee), 2008
Executive Committee, Diversity and Social Justice Project, 2008
Member, Hamilton Strategic Planning Committee for Athletics, 2007

Professional Affiliations

Guyana Institute of Historical Research
Pan-African Community of Central New York

Appointed to the Faculty

2006

Educational Background

Ph.D., SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, N.Y.
M.A., SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, N.Y.
B.A., University of Guyana, Georgetown, Guyana
 

Personal Interests

cricket, soccer, table tennis