Alvin Bernard Tillery, Jr.
Associate Professor
Curriculum Vitae

- Alvin.Tillery@northwestern.edu
- 847-467-4697
- Scott Hall 302
- Office Hours: By appointment only
Interests
Research Interest(s): American Political Development; Racial and Ethnic Politics; Media and Politics; History of Western Political Thought; Democratic Theory; Critical Race Theory
Program Area(s): Political Theory; Methods; American Politics
Regional Specialization(s): United States
Subfield Specialties: American Political Development; Critical Theory; Feminist and Gender Studies; Public Opinion, Political Communication, and Political Participation; Race, Ethnicity and Politics
Joint Appointment
Biography
Alvin B. Tillery, Jr.'s research and teaching interests are in the fields of American politics and political theory. His research in American politics focuses on American political development, racial and ethnic politics and media and politics. His research in political theory focuses on American political thought and critical race theory. His book Between Homeland and Motherland: Africa, U.S. Foreign Policy and Black Leadership in America (Cornell University Press, 2011) won the W.E.B. Du Bois Distinguished Book Award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. His papers have appeared in Studies in American Political Development, Political Research Quarterly, and Journal of Black Studies. He is currently completing a book that examines African-American attitudes toward immigration between 1850 and 1965.
Books
- Between Homeland and Motherland: Africa, U.S. Foreign Policy and Black Leadership in America (Cornell University Press, 2011).
Select Publications
- "Tocqueville as Critical Race Theorist: Whiteness as Property, Interest Convergence, and the Limits of Jacksonian Democracy." Political Science Quarterly 62 (2009): 639-652.
- "Model Blacks or 'Ras the Exhorter': A Quantitative Content Analysis of Black Newspapers’ Coverage of First Wave Afro-Caribbean Immigration to the United States." Journal of Black Studies 44 (2012): 798-828.
Courses taught
Undergraduate
- PoliSci 220: Introduction to American Politics
- PoliSci 101: First Year Seminar: American Political Thought
Graduate
- PoliSci 490: Race and American Political Thought