Halifu Osumare

Halifu Osumare (born November 27, 1946) is an African American author, educator, dancer, choreographer, cultural activist, and scholar involved in dance and black popular culture internationally for over fifty years. She is a UC Davis professor emerita of African American and African studies and was the Director of AAS from 2011 to 2014. She is recognized for her global hip-hop studies books and her contributions to bringing attention to the impact African culture has had on U.S. popular culture and around the world. She is also a protégé of the late dancer-anthropologist Katherine Dunham and a certified instructor of Dunham Dance Technique.

Osumare has served on review panels for the California Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, and the Haas Creative Fund.