Akim
Reinhardt.

Akim Reinhardt was born and raised in the Bronx where he attended public schools.  After earning a B.A. in Asian History from the University of Michigan (1989), he spent several years working odd jobs, including as a radio DJ and a freelance writer for alternative weeklies.  Less glamorous positions period included: dishwasher, prep cook, day laborer, substitute HS teacher, video store cashier, midnight shift hospital clerk, doorman (no epaulettes), and rock concert stage hand (not as glamorous as it sounds).

Reinhardt returned tot he Bronx in 1992 and eventually earned an M.A. in American history from Hunter College, City University of New York (1995), with additional course work at the CUNY Graduate Center and Columbia University.

From 1995–2000, he lived in Nebraska while pursuing a Ph.D. in Native American history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. During this time, he resumed DJing in public radio and volunteered with the Indian men’s group Native American Spiritual and Cultural Awareness (NASCA) at Nebraska State Penitentiary.

After a post-doctoral position at Arizona State University, in 2001 Reinhardt became an assistant professor Towson University in Baltimore, where he was eventually tenured.  He has lived in the same Baltimore row home since 2003.

Reinhardt’s first academic book, Ruling Pine Ridge, was published in 2007.  His second academic book, Welcome to the Oglala Nation, came out in 2015.  He has also published widely for the public.  Since 2010 he has written monthly essays for 3 Quarks Daily, and additional pieces at this website.  In 2016, with Heather Rounds he co-authored the coffee table book, The Twentieth Century in 100 Moments.  At at 3 Quarks Daily from 2019–2020, he serialized a book manuscript called Stuck, which is about music and other stuff.

The views expressed on this website in no way reflect the policies or opinions of Towson University.