She is editing the first comprehensive volume of the letters of Bessie Head, about whom she has written essays and given conference papers for 25 years. She served for five years as Faculty Coordinator of the Mellon Scholars Program and chair of the Africana Studies Program. She is involved in the new area of contemplative intelligence, having been in the first group of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society’s Contemplative Practice Fellows. King’s College recently awarded her an honorary doctorate for her work in integrating contemplative and intellectual ways of knowing.