Ismael Montana

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT ISMAEL MONTANA

I am a Professor of History at Northern Illinois University, specializing in slavery in Northwest Africa and the Middle East. My academic background and training encompass three primary areas of research and teaching: the abolition of slavery in North Africa and the western Mediterranean, the African Diaspora in the Middle East and North Africa (the MENA region), and Islam and colonial rule in Northwest Africa. My interdisciplinary background and training have shaped my approach for nearly 20 years, supporting my flexible comparative perspectives in research, teaching, student mentorship, and faculty collaboration.From 2022 to 2023, I served as Faculty Senate President and Executive Secretary of the University Council, representing faculty in shared governance. Additionally, from 2015 to 2016, I was the Chapter President of Phi Beta Delta: The National Honor Society for International Studies Zeta at NIU.As a member of the 2023-24 cohort of the Emerging Faculty Leadership Program (EFLP), my goals have been to enhance my leadership skills and knowledge and to collaborate with college and campus stakeholders to support faculty and students in our evolving higher education environment.Beyond my academic research and teaching, and my contributions to shared governance, I have been dedicated to advancing research on West Africa and its diaspora and have worked to facilitate academic cooperation and exchange between West African scholars and their counterparts in the region, the U.S, and beyond. As president of the West Africa Research Association (WARA) and an executive board member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC), I have played a key role in these efforts.