He holds a Ph.D. in history from Princeton University, and has been the recipient of several prestigious fellowships: the post-doctoral fellowship in history at Johns Hopkins University; a Fulbright Fellowship (for research in Ghana); and the National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship. Professor Holbrook researches and has published on the oral histories of the African experience in World War II. His courses focus on, but are not limited to, African and African American history and politics. He is a member of the African Studies Association and the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History.