Political Science & History Faculty
Dr. Celeste Murphy Greene
Chair for the Department of Political Science and History
Location: Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall, 249A
Phone: 757-727-5749
E-mail: celeste.greene@hamptonu.edu
Expertise: Public Administration, Public Policy, Environmental Justice, Environmental Policy
Dr. Murphy-Greene serves as Executive Director of the Center for Environmental Justice and Resilience, a non-profit organization focused on education, research, and consulting. Dr. Murphy-Greene has over 25 years of experience in higher education, working as a professor of Public Administration at several universities including Florida Gulf Coast University, San Diego State University, and University of Virginia, where she served as the Founding Faculty Member and Program Coordinator of the Graduate Certificates in Public Administration and Leadership. Her research focuses on environmental justice, local government financial management, and community resiliency issues. Dr. Murphy-Greene has written many peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Her most recent project is a book published in 2022 titled Environmental Justice and Resiliency in an Age of Uncertainty, where she serves as editor and lead author. Her work has appeared in Public Administration Review, International Journal of Public Administration, Public Administration Quarterly, Journal of Health and Human Services Administration, Review of Policy Research, Journal of Business and Public Affairs, and Journal of Emergency Management. Prior to her career in academia, Dr. Murphy-Greene worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as an Environmental Protection Specialist and served as a Legislative Aide to former Congressman Leon Panetta. Dr. Murphy- Greene graduated from UCLA with a BA in History. She earned her Master of Public Administration (MPA) from The George Washington University, where she focused on Environmental Policy and Urban Economic Development. She earned her Ph.D. in Public Administration from Florida Atlantic University where her dissertation focused on the issue of environmental justice and migrant farmworkers. For more information, visit www.celestemurphygreene.com.
Atty. Damien L. Bevelle
Assistant Professor and Director of Hampton University's Pre-Law Institute
Location: Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall, 126
Phone:757.728.6083
E-mail:damien.bevelle@hamptonu.edu
Damien L. Bevelle, Esq., Assistant Professor of Political Science, History, and International Studies and Director of the Hampton University Pre-Law Institute (HUPLI). With an ethos of Justitia et Aequitas per Veritas et Rationem (Justice and Equity through Truth and Reason) and through a comprehensive program featuring a carefully curated curriculum, HUPLI prepares Hampton University students for admission to and success in law school and/or other graduate study programs. Atty. Bevelle, a native of New York City, earned a B.S. in Finance from Hampton University and he received his Juris Doctorate degree from Seton Hall University School of Law. Prior to returning to his alma mater, Atty. Bevelle practiced law in the realm of complex commercial litigation in the New York City based law firm of Holwell Shuster & Goldberg LLP. Atty. Bevelle also completed clerkships in United States District Court in New Jersey and in the Superior Court of New Jersey. Atty. Bevelle brings a wealth of legal practice as well as mentorship experience to his roles as classroom instructor, student pre-law advisement, and Directorship of HUPLI.
Dr. Shu-Shan Lee
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Location: Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall, 204
Phone:757-727-5732
E-mail:shushan.lee@hamptonu.edu
Expertise: Comparative Political Theory
Dr. Lee is a Fulbright Scholar from Taiwan. He received his Ph.D. in political theory from the University of Virginia in 2015. Dr. Lee is a comparative political theorist specializing in Western and Chinese political traditions. His current study focuses on the theory of political obligation in Classical Confucianism and how it shaped the politics of Imperial China. In addition to the philosophical and historical analysis, he is also conducting an interview study in China to examine the contemporary relevance of Confucianism to Chinese citizens’ everyday political lives. One of his papers based on this research project has won the 2020 Best Essay Award by Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy. At Hampton University, Dr. Lee teaches Introduction to Political Science, American National Politics, Scope and Methods of Political Science, and various courses in Political Theory.
Dr. Catherine Lee Porter
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Location: Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall, 249B
Phone: 757-727-5749
E-mail:catherine.porter@hamptonu.edu
Expertise: Comparative Politics & Global History, Women's and Gender History, Military
History, Digital Humanities
Dr. Catherine L. Porter area of research is in the Global Cold War focusing in Central Africa, most notably the Congo Crisis. This extends to the Mai Mai Bakata militia movement in the Copperbelt region and how it is a replicating factor from the Cold War secession with lingering attachment to the iconography. This is being written as a manuscript and peer reviewed articles that are examining the Katangan secessionist crisis within the greater Global Cold War scholarship and new revisionist arguments about independent African political conversation via the lens of local autochthonous groups. She has also begun a project that intertwines geospatial analysis and data harvesting, to digitally map the Congo Crisis and its succeeding wars in a non-linear fashion.
Dr. Porter has served in several capacities in governmental and non-governmental organizations, such as the U.S. Department of State and the United Nations and currently hold a political appointment on the Commission on Updating Virginia Law to Reflect Federal Recognition of Virginia Tribes.
Dr. Porter was a Fulbright Scholar to the Democratic Republic of Congo and is a member of the African Studies Association, the Society for Military History, ASEN, and the Southeastern Regional Seminar in African Studies. Dr. Porter holds a PhD in History from the University of Cambridge. She also has a Master’s from The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva, Switzerland and a Master’s in Liberal Arts and African Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Her dual Bachelor’s in History and International Studies are from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Dr. Darry Powell-Young
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Location: Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall, 250
Phone:757-727-5174
E-mail:darry.powellyoung@hamptonu.edu
Expertise: Urban Politics, Urban Education Policy, African American Politics, Public Policy Analysis
Dr. Powell-Young is one of the newest faculty member in the Department of Political Science & History at Hampton University. He holds a PhD in Political Science, with specializations in Urban Politics, Public Policy, and Public Administration from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Previously, he has earned a dual Master of Public Administration & Public Policy from Roosevelt University in Chicago, IL and a Master of Arts in Political Science from Wayne State. He completed his bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and International Relations & Affairs from St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Most recently, before coming to Hampton, Dr. Powell-Young was an Assistant Professor of Political Science & Public Policy at DePaul University in Chicago, with previous appointments at University of Michigan, Wayne State University, Roosevelt University, and Central State University. His specializations are in urban education policy and politics, urban public administration, social science statistics and research methodology, African American Politics, public policy analysis, race and urban public policy, and behavioral economics & public policy. An article that he is currently working on is related to the economic and political feasibility of hiring and retaining Black teachers in our nation’s largest public school systems.
Dr. Powell-Young is affiliated with the American Political Science Association, Midwest Political Science Association, Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management, and the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. He is also a senior education policy consultant for the nonprofit Health in Color, INC, which is headquartered in Hampton. He provides technical assistance and expertise to develop critical policy development strategies for the overall improvement of various urban school systems in the United States.
Dr. Mohammed B. Sillah
Associate Professor of Political Science
Location: Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall, 204
Phone:757-727-5732
E-mail:mohammed.sillah@hamptonu.edu
Dr. Sillah holds a Ph.D. in International Studies from Howard University in Washington, D.C. At Hampton, where he has taught for more than two decades, Dr. Sillah teaches courses in Political Science, International Relations, International Political Economy, Contemporary Political Developments in Africa, Government and Politics in Europe, International Organizations, History of the United States Military, Ethics and Leadership, Political History of Islam in America, African History, State and Local Government, Political Theory, International Law, and Comparative History. Dr. Sillah taught at Christopher Newport University and Old Dominion University. He has been a freelance writer for international magazines since his graduate studies.
Dr. Sillah has published extensively in scholarly journals on political development in West Africa, Islam and Christianity, and Arab-African relations. He has also published book reviews in refereed journals, and magazine and newspaper articles. Under his mentorship, Dr. Sillah’s students have gained acceptance into prestigious graduate and law schools. He has trained and accompanied students to simulate international bilateral/multilateral crises in bodies such as the UN (Model UN), the Arab League, the African Union among others. Dr. Sillah has supervised students’ research papers for presentation at the U.S. Naval Academy Foreign Affairs Annual Conference and the Dana Scholars annual meeting at Duke University. He has conducted field research in Africa, published a monograph and co-authored a book. He has presented papers and served as chair and discussant at professional conferences. He gave a talk on “Regional Approaches to Strategy and Partnerships in Africa: North Atlantic Treaty Organization,” A forum held at NATO Command Center, Norfolk Naval Base, Virginia.
Professor Randy Singleton
Assistant Professor of History
Location: Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall, 211
Phone:757-727-5749
E-mail:randy.singleton@hamtponu.edu
Expertise: African American History, US History, State & Local Government
Professor Singleton specializes in U.S. and African American History, having taught various History & Political Sciences courses at St. Leo University for 20 years as an adjunct instructor. He taught History, Geography, and Government classes for Chesapeake Public Schools for 24 years, and Norfolk Public Schools for 11 years. Professor Singleton worked for State Operated Programs teaching incarcerated youth at Chesapeake Juvenile Services before retiring from public schools with 35 years of service to the state of Virginia.
Professor Singleton has served as the Community Affairs Correspondent for the New Journal and Guide newspaper (Virginia’s oldest African American newspaper) for the last 15 years, publishing numerous articles on public affairs and cultural events. He has also worked for the Richmond Free Press. Professor Singleton earned a MA in History from Old Dominion University and a BA in History Education from Norfolk State University
Dr. Eteri Tsinsadze-Maass (Dr. Etuna)
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Location: Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall, 209
Phone:757-727-5349
E-mail:eteri.maass@hamptonu.edu
Expertise: International Relations, Ontological Security, Nationalism, and Post-Soviet Politics
Dr. Eteri Tsintsadze-Maass (a.k.a. Dr. Etuna) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and History at Hampton University. Her research and teaching focus on international relations and security. She has published articles on the psychological underpinnings of terrorist radicalization and the effects of national identities on states’ threat perceptions and security choices. Currently, Dr. Tsintsadze-Maass is working on several projects examining the social construction of state survival, states’ responses to major crises and associated insecurities, as well as non-state sources of ontological security. Her long-term project is a book manuscript based on her Dissertation: Why Weak States Balance: National Mobilization and the Security Strategies of Post-Soviet States. Prior to joining Hampton University, Dr. Tsintsadze-Maass worked as the Assistant Director of the Graduate Program in International Studies (GPIS) at Old Dominion University, where she also taught political science courses for the Department of Political Science and Geography. She is a board member and the chair of the Great Decisions committee at the World Affairs Council of Hampton Roads. Dr. Tsintsadze-Maass holds a PhD from the University of Kentucky, with primary specialization in international relations and secondary specialization in comparative politics. She has also earned an MA in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame and a BA in Psychology from Tbilisi State University.
Professor Robert C. Watson
Assistant Professor of History
Location: Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall, 214
Phone:757-727-5349
E-mail:robert.watson@hamptonu.edu
Expertise: African American History, Caribbean History, Reconstruction, West African History
