Student Spotlight: Jamaal (Jama) Willis ’25

Jamaal (Jama) Willis is a fourth-year student at Harvard College concentrating in government and African and African American studies with a secondary in arts, film, and visual studies. He is also the recipient of a Carol K. Pforzheimer Student Fellowship and a three-time Radcliffe Research Partner. He is writing a thesis on the decriminalization of homosexuality in the postcolonial Anglo-Caribbean and collaborating with local and regional Caribbean activists engaged in decriminalization efforts.

Willis found out about Radcliffe as a first-year, from a friend and RRP who lived across the hall. Willis decided to apply in the next cycle and began working with Elizabeth Maddock Dillon RI ’23 on a project mapping historical connections between the Boston area and the early Caribbean from the 17th to the 19th centuries, with a focus on the slave economy.

Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, Willis was drawn to Dillon’s research on the Caribbean, particularly against the backdrop of the Report of the Presidential Committee on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery, published during that time. He has returned to some of the research he conducted with Dillon to inform his thesis.

During the 2023–2024 academic year, Willis partnered with Rich Benjamin RI ’24 to research the potential social and political consequences of no longer having a white majority in the United States—a scenario predicted to occur by 2044.

Willis is currently assisting Jisoo M. Kim RI ’25 with a book tentatively titled “Criminalizing Adultery: Marriage, Sexual Custom, and Intimate Legality in Korea,” assessing adultery laws globally and generating maps to assist with visualization. Further drawing on his experience as a Pforzheimer Fellow, he also plans to review primary sources in the Schlesinger Library.

Willis was drawn to Kim’s project because, he says, “I thought [Kim’s] work connected a lot with mine in terms of decriminalization and criminalization, and I wanted to see her research methodology and see if I could replicate some of that for my own senior thesis.” He was also interested in learning about the publication process.

“If I didn’t start off looking at the Caribbean [while an RRP],” says Willis, “I don’t know if I would’ve found my way to this senior thesis that I’m doing right now.” His favorite part of the program is connecting with the wide variety of staff and fellows who work in Byerly Hall.