Scholar
Dr. Hanks is a magna cum laude graduate of Morehouse College.
He holds a Master’s and a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University. His writings focus on personal and collective empowerment. His research interests include black political empowerment, African American political thought and action, race and politics, and the politics of difference.

Teacher
Professor Hanks is a passionate believer in critical thinking. He supports Martin Luther King’s observation that the quintessential characteristic of learned persons is their ability to think critically—knowing how to separate fact from fiction, logic from emotion, and pragmatism from principle. His courses focus on African Americans and the political system, the politics of diversity (race, gender, ability, and sexual orientation), and the politics of controversy. Rejecting the simple one dimensional characteristics of “liberal” and “conservative”, Hanks is a self proclaimed “critical thinking solutionist” who challenges his students to go wherever their passion and critical thinking will take them.

Motivational Speaker
As a avid believer in the power of positive thought and healthy living, Dr. Hanks is passionate about optimizing one’s human potential. As a first generation college student from rural Georgia who was born in the era of segregation, Hanks overcame many challenges on his way to becoming an honor student from Morehouse, a Ph.D. from Harvard, a department chair at Tuskegee, and a Dean and Associate Professor at Indiana University. Dr. Hanks knows the keys to success and explicates them with passion to all of his audiences. As a liberally trained scholar, Dr. Hanks is able to bring passion and clarity to a variety of topics. Yet, he is often sought to speak on topics of diversity, race and politics, affirmative action, African American History and Politics, the politics of African American leadership, and effective strategies for personal development, and the potential for economic prosperity via the economic empowerment underground railroad.