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Reckonings Projects
Asian American Resource Workshop Through the Years
The Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW) is a member-led nonprofit organization that serves as a home for pan-Asian communities in Greater Boston. AARW envisions a future that "honors all Asian Pacific Islander communities, including diasporic and Indigenous People of East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, Pacific and Caribbean Islands, Native Hawaii, and Oceania."
Unsettled Accounts
Unsettled Accounts is a community-university collaboration dedicated to documenting, investigating, and archiving past and present injustices in housing and land ownership in Boston, which have had a disproportionate impact on Black Bostonians. Co-led by Roxbury activist Dianne Wilkerson and Northeastern urban planning and public policy professor Lily Song, the project works in partnership with the Reckonings Project, the ICA (Institute for Contemporary Art) Teen Photography Collaborative, and Homes for Equity.
Reckonings Newsletter
Check out our newsletter to learn more about our work and the work of our community partners!
Remembering Prof. Ángel David Nieves
The Reckonings Project team honors and remembers our Co-Principal Investigator, colleague, and friend, Ángel David Nieves. As one of the co-founders of Reckonings, Ángel brought not only a guiding vision for the project, but also a trusted voice in both social justice and community partnership which he developed over a long and celebrated career in the digital humanities.
Ángel David Nieves was Dean’s Professor of Public and Digital Humanities and Professor of Africana Studies, History, and Digital Humanities in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH) at Northeastern University and an Affiliate Professor in the Department of English and in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Director of the Graduate Program in Public History, and Director of the Humanities Center in CSSH. Among his many publications are An Architecture of Education: African American Women Design the New South and the award-winning People, Practice, Power: Digital Humanities Outside the Center, and articles in journals such as American Quarterly or The Journal of Planning History. Nieves received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in the history of urban development and Africana Studies. He held an M.A. in socio-cultural anthropology and Women’s Studies from Binghamton University (SUNY) and a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) degree from Syracuse University.
Please see this message from December 15, 2023.
Ángel's career and life are commemorated by his friends, family, and colleagues on a memorial website, https://www.angeldavidnieves.com. We encourage you to share your memories.
Reckonings Project Team
Principal Investigators
Kabria Baumgartner is a historian of the nineteenth-century United States, specializing in the history of education, African American women’s and gender history, and the New England region.
Dan Cohen is the Vice Provost for Information Collaboration, Dean of the Libraries, and professor of history at Northeastern University. His work has focused on the impact of digital media and technology on all aspects of knowledge and learning, from the nature of libraries and their evolving resources, to twenty-first century research techniques and software tools, to the changing landscape of communication and publication.
Together with Kabria Baumgartner and Dan Cohen, Uta G. Poiger leads the Reckonings Project. Her work focuses on new community-engaged frameworks for the humanities, supported by digital technologies. Poiger has held a number of administrative leadership roles at Northeastern.
Reckonings Project Faculty
Régine Michelle Jean-Charles is a Black feminist literary scholar and cultural critic who works at the intersection of race, gender, and justice. Her scholarship and teaching in Africana Studies include expertise on Black France, Sub-Saharan Africa, Caribbean literature, Black girlhood, Haiti, and the diaspora. She is the author of Conflict Bodies: The Politics of Rape Representation in the Francophone Imaginary (Ohio State University Press, 2014), The Trumpet of Conscience Today (Orbis Press, 2021), and Looking for Other Worlds: Black Feminism and Haitian Fiction (University of Virginia Press, 2022). She is currently working on two book projects–one explores representations of Haitian girlhood, and the other is a co-authored interdisciplinary study of sexual violence entitled The Rape Culture Syllabus. Dr. Jean-Charles is a regular contributor to media outlets like The Boston Globe, Ms. Magazine, WGBH, America Magazine, and Cognoscenti, where she has weighed in on topics including #metoo, higher education, and issues affecting the Haitian diaspora.
Denise Khor is a media historian working on early cinema history, film preservation, and Asian American film and media culture. She is the author of Transpacific Convergences: Race, Migration and Japanese American Film Culture before World War II (University of North Carolina Press, 2022), which explores the historical experiences of Japanese Americans at the cinema and traces an alternative network of film production, circulation, and exhibition. Areas of research specialization include film and media history, early cinema, nontheatrical film, critical ethnic studies, and Asian American Studies.
Jessica Parr (she/they) is a historian of the Early Modern Atlantic, specializing in race and memory long eighteenth century, as well as in digital humanities, and archival studies. They are the author of Inventing George Whitefield: Race, Revivalism, and the Making of a Religious Icon (U. Press of Mississippi). The book explores Whitefield’s development as a symbol shaped in the complexities of revivalism, the contest over religious toleration, and the conflicting roles of Christianity for enslaved people. Evangelical Christianity’s emphasis on “freedom in the eyes of God,” combined with the problems that the rhetoric of the Revolution posed for slavery, also suggested a path to political freedom. (Photo credit: John Legg. Courtesy of The Bright Institute.)
Dr. Lily Song is an urban planner and activist-scholar who holds a joint appointment between the School of Architecture and the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University. She is an award-winning educator who teaches courses on anti-displacement, participatory action research, public participation, community-driven design, and community development. Song’s research and scholarship focus on the relations between urban infrastructure and redevelopment initiatives, socio-spatial inequality, and race, class, and gender politics in American cities and other decolonizing contexts. Her work both analyzes and informs infrastructure-based mobilizations and experiments that center the experiences and insights of historically marginalized groups as bases for reparative planning and design. She has published in a number of journals, including the Journal of Architecture Education, Journal of the American Planning Association, Journal of Urban Affairs, International Development Planning Review, and Planning Theory and Practice.
Reckonings Staff
Dzidzor (Jee-Jaw) is a Ghanian-American folklore, performing artist, author, and curator. Dzidzor’s style of call and response has combined traditional storytelling in Afro-folklore and Poetry Slam through a sonic experience. Dzidzor is moved by the responsibility to alarm the power/abundance in the midst of bodies while creating a practice of care and freedom through creativity. Dzidzor is the founder of Black Cotton Club and partners with Grubstreet, ICA Boston, and Boston Public Schools to teach creative empowerment workshops in Boston.
Jen Grieve is the project manager for Reckonings. She coordinates and aligns the project’s activities, tracks project and grant deliverables, and enables better communication and collaboration across the team and with partners. She brings almost five years of Northeastern institutional knowledge and relationships to the project. Jen also has a M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Emerson College and B.A. in Political Science from Penn State University.
Greg Lord is a designer and developer with over 15 years of experience in digital humanities research and development. His previous experience includes the University of Maryland’s MITH (Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities), Hamilton College’s Digital Humanities Initiative (DHi), NASA, and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), having served in roles as a graphic/web designer, software engineer, 3D modeler, and virtual reality developer.
Shireen Zaineb (she/her) is the Digital Projects Archivist at Northeastern University, where she supports digital archives and initiatives at the Humanities Center. With a background in media studies and religious studies, her current work focuses on metadata best practices, community-engaged archiving, and data security.
Current Co-Creators
Alex Booker is a third-year undergraduate student at Northeastern University majoring in English and Political Science with a minor in Ethics. Her academic and career interests include foreign policy, human rights, environmentalism, and AI. She prioritizes an intersectional approach to her research and writing as a strong human rights advocate. She has experiences through her leadership roles as a managing editor of the Northeastern Political Review and as Vice President Associate and Associate Editor of HerCampus. She also has worked extensively with the non-profit organization Ballotpedia, researching local election candidates to provide concise, non-biased information to citizens. She is currently on co-op at Chartwell Strategy Group in Washington, D.C.
Heidi Ho is a third-year at Northeastern University majoring in public health and journalism. She is driven by a passion for social justice, health, and science. She previously worked with a nonprofit organization in Ecuador and currently writes for multiple publications on campus. In her spare time, she can be found dancing, trying new cuisines, and exploring new places with friends.
Safia Ibrahim is a second-year student at Northeastern University pursuing a B.S. in Human Services and Psychology. Her interests include immigration, prison reform, and exploring the intersection between mental health and the criminal justice system. She is passionate about understanding how these issues shape and influence one another within the legal system.
Kehinde Ilegbusi is a PhD student in the World History program of Northeastern University. His research explores Africa through ideas connected with the British Empire since the post-World War II era. These ideas and concepts are linked through intellectual, legal, and emerging international histories. He uses them collectively to critically analyze societies shaped by racial, colonial, and post-independence regimes in Africa intersecting with the United States. This approach builds on the intellectual traditions he has touched; he is grateful for the genuine gifts from those who have become ancestors, and to every adviser whose mentorship continues to influence his path, and to his colleagues who have provided space for collaboration. He serves as a Doctoral Research Assistant with the Reckoning Project. He also works with Professor Kris Manjapra (Northeastern History) and Professor Margaret Burnham (Northeastern Law) on the Donated Body project. Outside his research, Ilegbusi is a member of Stories of Home (SOH), a nonprofit based in Lagos. This group employs community-driven strategies such as storytelling, hope traditions, learning and library projects to inspire genuine hope, faith, healing, and beautiful dreams among Africans. As a Hope Ambassador, he aims to leverage these experiences to make a positive impact on the world. Ilegbusi comes from southwestern Nigeria and earned first-class honors from the University of Lagos with a BA in History and Strategic Studies in 2021. He completed his master’s in World History at Northeastern University in 2025.
Poppy Lambert is a first-year PhD Student in World History. Her interests include early American and African American history. Currently, Lambert’s research is examining the intersection of race, gender, and power among Atlantic spaces of social welfare. Her approach to research is rooted in microhistory and spatial thinking. Lambert received her M.A. in History from the University of Maine in 2025 and her B.S. in Economics and History from the University of Maine in 2024. She spent time working as an Archival Assistant at the Osher Map Library in Portland, Maine (2024) where she worked on transcription skills and archival processes. She also worked at the University of Maine’s Special Collections (2023) where she processed archival material for the Athletic Department. While living in Maine, Lambert was a devoted Field Hockey Student Athlete and was awarded the Dean Smith Award in 2025, which recognizes the top scholar athlete at the University.
Holly Lyczak is a second-year student pursuing a B.A. in International Affairs and Spanish at Northeastern University. Her studies have made her interested in policy making at an international level. This can include topics on women’s and civil rights, immigration, and the environment with a focus on ethnic and cultural inclusion within these policies. She is passionate about learning about how various international organizations pertaining to global politics shape policy, specifically in Spanish-speaking countries.
Warya Mazuze is a first-year Health Sciences Undergraduate Student at Northeastern and an aspiring pediatric surgeon. She is a research assistant working at Reckonings on the Black Artists of Boston project. She is interested in uncovering and sharing the history that shaped our past so that it might become a tool to carve our future. She is a lover of literature and music, with a particular interest in fusion music and African folklore.
Hale Murch is a first-year Public History master’s student at Northeastern with a B.A. in history from Bates College. Her past research has focused on women in maritime communities in New England, and she is currently interested in bringing marginalized voices in American history to the forefront. Alongside this primary goal, Murch loves learning about the histories of seafaring, food, fashion, and historical crafts. Outside of school, Murch works for American Ancestors as a digitization assistant: scanning and indexing historical documents to help create searchable online databases.
Aiswarya Nair is a first-year undergraduate student at Northeastern University, majoring in Health Sciences. Her interests include health equity, foreign policy, and the intersection between public health and social justice. She is passionate about social awareness and change. Through her studies, she aims to research how social and political structures influence access to healthcare and advocate for more equitable systems.
Keir Nason is a first-year graduate student at Northeastern University, studying for a Masters in History. His interests include social history and the history of LGBT community, both in America and across the world. He hopes to use digital tools to make historical topics more accessible to more people.
Alexa Richman is a second-year master’s student pursuing a degree in Public History. Her work focuses on 19th century British and American history, women’s history, and the 19th century quotidian. She is currently creating a digital humanities project about the life and death of Mary Walkley, an overworked seamstress who passed away due to poor working conditions in 1863.
Leandro Wiggett is a first-year BSc Business student at Northeastern University London, pursuing a pathway in Economics. His interests include macroeconomics, behavioural economics, energy policy, and the automotive industry, and he is shortly becoming a senior blog ambassador for Dr Otojanov’s ‘EconBlogger’ project. He was selected as his VI Form’s Student of the Year 2024 and is a NatWest business competition winner. Having lived across Europe, he is fluent in English, Portuguese, and Italian, and enjoys exploring different cultures and places.
Reckonings Toolkits
Pedagogy from the Community to the Classroom
Developing a series of toolkits using a co-creation methodology and a series of practices requires a deliberate spirit of collaboration. Collaborations for the Reckonings Project begin with community members taking the lead in determining, laying out, and defining the terms of their needs for public history projects and making those a part of the work, when possible, of courses taught at Northeastern.
Unboxing the Archive: Telling Overlooked Stories through Video
Written by Hunter Moskowitz
The Black Artists of Boston Interview Toolkit (this is part of a series of toolkits from the project) was developed as part of a graduate level course in spring 2022 at Northeastern University. The toolkit is very much derived from a co-creation process between students and community members making this unique among existing guides on the internet. This part of the toolkit focuses on the technical aspects of conducting an interview and on the physical production.
Black Artists of Boston: Interview Toolkit
Written by Cassie Tanks | Edited by Alanna Prince
The Black Artists of Boston Interview Toolkit (this is part of a series of toolkits from the project) was developed as part of a graduate level course in spring 2022 at Northeastern University. The toolkit is very much derived from a co-creation process between students and community members making this unique among existing guides on the internet. This part of the toolkit focuses on the technical aspects of conducting an interview and on the physical production.
