Experts’ Advisory: Life & Legacy of Nelson MandelaWHO: American University experts, James Mittelman, Clarence Lusane, and Theresa RunstedtlerWHAT: Discussion of Nelson MandelaWHEN: December 5 - ongoing WHERE: Via telephone, in-studio, or at American University

The following American University experts are available to discuss Nelson Mandela’s life and legacy:

James Mittelman is University Professor of International Affairs in American University’s School of International Service, and was the founding Chair of Comparative and Regional Studies at American University. Mittelman is an expert on Mandela’s life and legacy in addition to South Africa. He has been on the faculty at Cornell University and Columbia University, and had a fellowship at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. He has also held teaching and research appointments in South Africa, Uganda, Mozambique, and lived in Tanzania. The recipient of the International Studies Association's 2010 Distinguished Senior Scholar award in International Political Economy, Mittelman is the author of several books on African politics, development, international organization, and globalization. As a practitioner, Mittelman has worked at the United Nations and with civil society organizations.

Clarence Lusane, professor of international relations at the School of International Service at American University and an advisor to the South African Embassy and a Senior Policy Advisor to TransAfrica, the oldest African American foreign policy organization in the United States, teaches courses in modern social movements, comparative race relations, comparative politics and international relations. Dr. Lusane's latest book is The Black History of the White House (City Lights Books 2010). He is the author of eight books on global race relations, human rights, American politics, and European history. He is a national columnist for the Black Voices syndicated news network, and has published his writings in national publications and presented them at leading American and international universities and in the international media. He is the Co-Chair of U.S. Civil Society Committee of the Brazil-U.S. Joint Action Plan for the Elimination of Racism, a government-to-government project to address the issue of racism in Brazil.

Lusane can address Nelson Mandela's transitional leadership in Africa, his embodiment of non-violence as a movement and an effective effort, how he brought together a country that had been divided for decades, and the role he played internationally and in Africa.

Theresa Runstedtler is a professor of African American history whose research focuses on black internationalism and black popular culture. She is the author of Jack Johnson, Rebel Sojourner: Boxing in the Shadow of the Global Color Line (UC Press, 2012), a book that explores the first African American world heavyweight champion’s legacy as a black sporting hero and anticolonial icon in Cape Town, Sydney, London, Manila, Paris, Havana, and Mexico City. Her book won the 2013 Phillis Wheatley Book Prize from the Northeast Black Studies Association. She teaches courses on race and popular culture and African American history.