I did my undergraduate and graduate studies at Cheikh Anta Diop, Michigan State University, and Amsterdam University. I am currently Associate Professor of History and Global and International Studies, at The College of Wooster, Ohio, USA. Also, I am founding-member of The Dakar Institute of African Studies, Dakar Senegal. My research and teaching focus on crime & punishment; education; and youth organization. 

Since 2018, I have been a member of the African Studies Association (ASA) Task Force for the Protection of Academic Freedom. Before that, I served on the Board of Directors of the West African Research Association (WARA), from 2010 to 2016.