He regularly serves as a track moderator at APSA’s Teaching & Learning Conference. As an advocate of Civic Engagement, he is active on a wide variety of local and regional civic organizations. Dr. Ricks’ research has been published in the National Political Science Review, the Journal of American Ethnic Studies, the Journal of Rhetoric and Public Affairs and the Encyclopedia of African American Religion and Politics. He is author of several book chapters, book reviews, monographs and technical reports and has been awarded several research grants, including the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award, CSUN-RIMI Research Grant, and the CSBS Summer Research Grant.​