Received Sylff fellowship in 2025
Academic Supervisor: Dr. Krista Johnson
Current affiliation: Assistant Professor of English Literature and African Studies at Bard
HS Early College DC
Dr. Lawrence is an international journalist, educator, and scholar-activist specializing in African studies, public policy, human rights, and urban inequality. He is currently a professor of English literature and African studies at Bard High School Early College DC, an early college program in Washington D.C. that offers tuition-free college courses at Bard College to secondary students who earn an Associates of Arts degree upon completion of their secondary school matriculation. A Sasakawa Young Leaders Foundation Fellow and delegate to the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, Dr. Lawrence's research advances African-centered approaches to understanding class structure and social inequality. His fieldwork and policy research spans Africa, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and the United States, and he has presented his research at the United Nations, World Bank, and leading universities in South Africa. Dr. Lawrence earned his Ph.D. in African Studies from Howard University and holds additional training in international public policy and economics from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. Dr. Lawrence is a proud alum of Morgan State University, where he studied sociology and co-founded Strong Men Overcoming Obstacles Through Hard-work, Inc., a community service-based professional development nonprofit for young Black males.
Academic Achievements,Social Engagement Initiative
In Chronological Order:
United Nations Intern to Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Anti-Racial Discrimination section (2026 [pending])
Southern Christian Leadership Conference Director of Youth Political Education (2026)
-Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in African Studies (Public Policy and Global Development) from Howard University (2026) with 3.86 GPA (summa cum laude)
-Dissertation: Urban Class Structure in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Case Studies from Johannesburg and Tshwane
-Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre seminar (04/2026) convened and presented dissertation findings on post-apartheid South African public policy
-University of Pretoria academic seminar (03/2026): Organized and presented for university students, faculty, and public stakeholders on post-apartheid South African urban policy
-Sasakawa Young Leaders Foundation Fellow at Howard University 2024-25; 2025-26
-Howard University Frederick Douglass Scholars Fellowship recipient 2020-2023
-Howard University Center for African Studies Graduate Assistant (2022-24)
World Bank Group keynote respondent for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination forum on race and anti-racism in global development (04/2023)
-United Nations Delegate to Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (2022–Present)
-Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Master of International Public Policy (MIPP) 2016 graduate with 3.57 GPA
-Masters thesis: co-author of "Migration, Deportations, and Humanitarian Concerns on Hispaniola"
-AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (2013) served in Baltimore, MD
-Morgan State University Bachelor of Arts (2013), Sociology; double minored in Philosophy and Criminal Justice
-Morgan State University Student Government Association President (2011-12)
-Morgan State University Board of Regents Student Regent (2010-11)
Co-Founder of Strong Men Overcoming Obstacles Through Hard-work, Inc. (2009–Present)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daquan-lawrence/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrDaQuan
Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daquan-lawrence/
