He holds a Ph.D. in French from Tulane University, and received his BA from Fourah Bay College in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He teaches African literatures as well as courses on French and Francophone literature. His varied research interests include; Eighteenth Century French literature by women, the literature of Sierra Leone, the history of French colonial education, and literary representations of the African bourgeoisie. He lives in Lexington Virginia with his two children.