Advisors: Professor Fay Yarbrough and Professor Caleb McDaniel

Nkili Cooper joined Rice's student community in the fall of 2020 after graduating summa cum laude from Seton Hall University. As an undergraduate, she majored in History and triple-minored in Africana Studies, Women and Gender, and Sociology with particular interests in the African American experience, black women, and children's issues. Nkili conducted research and was mentored by scholars at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, the University of Michigan, and the Department of Justice's programs focusing on racially violence in the United States. When she isn't studying or reading for pleasure (she particularly enjoys reading about human behavior), Nkili enjoys catching up with family and friends who remain along the eastern seaboard, getting lost on walking trails, and exploring different restaurants around Houston.