Yuxuf Abana, a published poet, writer, musician, and soccer player was born in Ghana, West Africa where he earned a triple major Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature, Philosophy, and History. He later moved to Iowa State University, and the University of Arizona, where he graduated with a MA in English, and a Ph. D in 19th Century British Romanticism & Its Implication In The Africana Experience. He is also a graduate of the School of Theory & Criticism at Cornell University.
Dr. Abana teaches a range of AFAS courses that emphasize his scholarly interests. These are literature courses such as AFAS 342: Writers, Women, & the Gods, AFAS 160D1: Introduction to African American Literature, AFAS 306: African American Women's Autobiography--History & Literature, AFAS 320: The African American Slave Narrative: History & Literature.
The other courses regularly taught by Dr. Abana are AFAS 376: Global Soccer, AFAS 200: The Africana Experience, and AFAS 304B: The Social Construction of Race: Blackness.
Dr. Abana's research interests are Teaching College Writing, Theories of Slave Writing, Race & Literary Theory, Jazz, Blues and the Africana Experience, The Africana Novel and the Western World, and is currently developing a manuscript on the concept of realism in reading Africana literature.
Dr. Abana, in addition to his academic commitments, serves on the Board of the Dancing In The Streets Dance Company (a performance company for underprivileged and handicapped kids), and serves as a cook, once a month, for the Primavera Men's Homeless Shelter in South Tucson.