Africana Studies
North Academic Building
85 Mission Park Drive
Williams College
Williamstown, MA 01267
Phone: (413) 597-2242
Fax: (413) 597-4222

Chair:
Prof. Shanti M. Singham
ssingham@williams.edu

Administrative Assistant:
Lucy Gardner Carson
Lucy.G.Carson@williams.edu

Bernard Moore recently earned a Ph.D. in Political Science, with emphasis in American Politics and Black Politics, from Howard University. He had done advanced study in International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford, and has a Master’s Degree in American Politics from Claremont Graduate University. In addition to currently being a visiting Assistant Professor in Political Science at Williams College, Moore is a Visiting Scholar and Researcher at Yale Law School, where he is focusing on the elimination of unreasonable barriers to the reintegration of people to civil society upon returning from prison.

Moore is an academic researcher with an executive role in an important congressional office in Washington D.C. He is currently Senior Policy Advisor to Representative Danny K. Davis (7th District, Illinois), and he serves as the Congressman’s Representative to the Committee on Ways and Means. Among his responsibilities, Bernard Moore is the Congressman’s "pen," writing legislation, policy reports, floor statements, talking points, and letters to other members of Congress. He has built ties with individual members and coalitions with such organizations as the Democratic leadership, the Democratic Caucus, and the Congressional Black Caucus. He organizes press conferences concerning key issues and helps drive the legislative process forward.

As a Fellow/Policy Advisor to Congressman Davis and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus since 2004, and working closely especially with Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn, Moore spearheaded, wrote, and shepherded the Second Chance Bill of 2007 to the floor of the U.S. Senate. Successfully gaining 92 bipartisan cosponsors of H.R. 1593 and 265 votes in the House, the Bill, helping prisoners reenter civil society in ways that ensure public safety, was signed into law by the President in 2007. Moore has helped organize and host various Congressional briefings, press conferences, and policy forums for the Democratic Leadership, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference, the House Committee on the Judiciary, and the Supreme Court of the United States. During the historic Obama campaign, Bernard Moore helped organize the Congressional Black Caucus Institute Presidential Primary Debate in South Carolina (January 2008) and, after the election, he helped bring nine members of the Congressional Black Caucus to Williams College for "An Evening with Members of the Congressional Black Caucus" in November 2008.

Moore has spent his life focusing on a continuing self-educational approach that includes expanding awareness and understanding of the political spectrum by immersion into practical political affairs while simultaneously developing inquiry-based critical thinking skills designed to approach the research topics that most interest him, namely, legislative affairs, public law, racial disparities in federal sentencing, and Black Politics. He believes that communication, relationship building, and mentoring communication are key motivators for students in their quest for knowledge in academia.

Political Science Department