Beginning his appointment as Professor of African American Studies and Public Affairs in January 2025, Khalil's extensive background includes directing the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project at Harvard University and serving as the Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. His diverse background and forward-thinking approach make him a standout figure in his industry.

What inspired your journey into African American Studies and Public Affairs, and how has that journey shaped your academic and professional pursuits?

My entire career has been focused on the history and present of the U.S. criminal legal system, and as such, my scholarship has always been at the intersection of African American studies and public policy. My first job out of graduate school was as a fellow at the Vera Institute of Justice, a national research-based advocacy organization committed to ending mass incarceration, among other goals. As of January 2025, I am now the Chair of the Vera Institute of Justice. I could never have predicted that my journey in the field would lead to this, or to Princeton for that matter. I’ve had a wonderful career even though the work itself is hard, and there’s so much more to do.

Reflecting on your career, could you share a pivotal moment or experience that profoundly influenced your trajectory?

When I became the Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in 2011, one of the most surprising aspects of my new role was recognizing how large the gap was between academic and public knowledge. I was responsible for making our archives available to researchers from all over the world, and I was keenly aware of how many brilliant minds walked our corridors. Since I happened to lead the Schomburg during the Obama presidency I felt that I had a role to play in closing the knowledge gap, at least in terms of Schomburg’s public programming.

I wanted to elevate the national conversation on race and racism with more scholarly input. It took a lot of work helping scholars present their ideas to public audiences. I worked with scholars like Jeanne Theoharis, Robyn Spencer, and Komozi Woodard to start a new series, Conversations in Black Freedom Studies, which was designed to feature the latest scholarship to a general audience. This work proved to me that scholarly public engagement is crucial to the kind of cultural change required for excellent and politically sustainable public policy.

What drew you to Princeton University, and what excites you most about joining our academic community?

I have long admired the talents of Princeton’s faculty, most especially in African American Studies. When I think of scholars publishing research that I most admire and find useful to my own work, I think of my new colleagues in this department. That is not me being nice; I mean it. I’ve never actually worked in a department where I was not the only one, or one of a tiny few, focusing on race and racism. Part of this is explained by my having only worked in history departments and at a large policy school until now. But of all the African American Studies departments in the country, Princeton’s AAS is the one I most admire and am grateful for the opportunity to be part of.  

Also, I happen to be joining a bunch of old friends in the department, including some of whom were my close colleagues at Harvard. I also love the community that exists between Princeton faculty across many units, especially the close community that exists between AAS and the Effron Center for the Study of America.  

Your research explores the intersections of racism, economic inequality, criminal justice, and democracy. What current issues or trends are most pressing or promising in these areas?

Where to start? Everything I’ve worked on my entire career is under attack politically in the US and in many parts of the world. I know I’m not alone in struggling to make sense of how we arrived at this moment. The attacks on the ability to teach about race and racism in K-12 education and now in higher education are in my view symptomatic of the most dangerous threats facing American Democracy in my lifetime.

I’m focused on research that both illuminates how the last 60 years of race, post-colonialism, and public policy contributed to this moment, and effective policy responses to build what this country and the world should look like on the other side of these dark times. That said, I have no magic solutions. That’s why I want to be in the strongest intellectual community I can be to learn from others.

How do you envision your work contributing to the academic discourse and broader societal conversations at Princeton and beyond? Can you highlight any specific projects or initiatives you plan to undertake or continue during your tenure at Princeton?

Over the last several years, I have been leading a research project called the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability (IARA) Project, and will continue to do so at Princeton. The IARA Project (pronounced eye-rah) has engaged in research that uses historical analysis within institutional/organizational contexts to create a shared understanding of equity problems. By understanding how disparities or inequities came to be, and what efforts, if any, in the past worked or didn’t work to address them, organizations can have greater clarity on what to fix. It seems obvious enough, but you would be surprised at how hard it is for organizations to look backwards, into their own pasts, and reckon with it.

This is an unusual endeavor for a historian, I’ll be the first to admit. We tend to stick to the past and let the social scientists solve contemporary problems. However, drawing on my Schomburg experiences, I want to develop a body of work that is akin to applied history. This kind of historical practice is already baked into international relations, diplomatic and military studies. Economists often ground their work in historical claims. But it is much less common among historians to be present or future-focused, and humanities scholars are often the least influential in policy-making circles. This is a real problem because culture shapes all policy work. There’s too much of a gap between how policymakers use history and how historians, as well as African American/Ethnic/Cultural/Women’s studies scholars do history. I’ve tried to build a community of practice and scholarship that starts to model how people like me can show up more at policy-making tables.

To be sure, there are plenty of people at Princeton who already do this, which is why I am so excited to join the faculty. But I think the community can grow and I’m excited to be part of this effort at AAS and SPIA.

You've been involved with various organizations and boards. How do these roles inform and complement your academic pursuits?

I’ve served on several non-profit boards in the cultural sector and criminal legal field for the past 15 years. All these roles have enriched my learning immeasurably. I see how ideas move in the world of doers and how practitioners often ask the most relevant questions that we academics sometimes neglect. I’m trying to answer some of these questions with the IARA Project.

I’ve also witnessed time and time again how hard leadership is. I’m humbled by how difficult mission-driven and systems-change work is when fiscal uncertainty and political resistance is the norm. These roles keep my feet planted in the real world, which really helps my research and teaching.

As a public intellectual, what role do you believe academics play in shaping public perspectives and policies, and how do you approach this responsibility?

As I said about my time at the Schomburg Center, I think academics have an indispensable role in shaping public knowledge and contributing to policy debates. If this historical moment has shown us anything collectively, it is how powerfully information shapes social and political outcomes.  

I believe all academics have a responsibility to defend their work when propagandists or politicians attack their work. When they don’t, all of us become more vulnerable to such threats. This is not a matter of political activism; it is a matter of standing up for the principle of academic freedom and integrity. Of course, academics have differing views about how to interpret facts, but when politicians or others attack the entire enterprise as corrupt, academics should defend their work.

I want to be even clearer about what I mean. Academics should have the right to choose whether or not they want to engage the public directly. Being a public intellectual is not a requirement for being an outstanding academic. Scholars should choose for themselves whether their audience is primarily a community of peers and experts, or more. But I think we all have a responsibility to speak up when our work is unjustly demeaned and threatened.

What are your key objectives as an educator, and what do you hope your students will gain from your courses?

Over the past several years I’ve mostly taught MPP students at the Harvard Kennedy School. I had only ever taught undergrad or grad history courses for almost two decades. This was a huge change for me. Policy grad students are not typically aspiring historians and can be quite skeptical of the value of history to their otherwise practical coursework and professional pursuits.

Their skepticism forced me to adopt new ways of teaching and structuring learning. The past few years of teaching have been some of the most rewarding of my career and I hope to bring some of these experiences to my AAS and SPIA classes. Fingers crossed.

As for content, my goal is to teach my students to think historically and to recognize that all forms of knowledge are built on a sense of the past. I also show them over many weeks how much history informs everyone’s personal, professional, and political sense of the world and informs their normative values. It is their job to develop the skills necessary to be critical consumers or producers of histories that matter in their lives and work.  

Lastly, beyond your professional endeavors, could you share a bit about your personal interests or hobbies that bring balance to your life?

I am very fortunate to have a loving family. Stephanie and I have three children, the youngest of which just started college this fall. They keep us busy with life’s many joys and surprises. Plus, two Covid dogs and my mom live with us. Our household is a constant and invigorating buzz. 

To maintain my health and sanity, I spend most days of the week doing some form of exercise, even if for just 30 minutes. It’s a way of life for me. Stephanie and I have run several marathons and half marathons together plus we strength-train together, twice a week. One more thing I really enjoy is playing the piano, but I have no natural talent and not enough time to develop my skills. I started taking lessons along with my 24 year old son when he was 5. If I’m playing regularly, I’m good enough to play a R&B or pop tune for friends, which makes me very happy. One day, if I get my act together, you might catch me playing in Terminal C at Newark Airport.