I am an historical archaeologist and Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I currently serve as the Director of the Archaeological Research Center at UCSC, and Editor in Chief for African Archaeological Review. I have over 30 years of field experience, having participated on archaeological field projects in Armenia, Belize, Bénin, Haiti, Israel, Sudan, the UK, and the United States. I am particularly interested in the Archaeology of West Africa and the African Diaspora. My current research examines landscape transformations and the architecture of political sovereignty in West Africa and the Diaspora in the era of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. I am currently conducting longterm field research in the Republic of Bénin and in Haiti on these themes.