Marketus Presswood earned his doctorate in Modern Chinese History from the University of California—Irvine. His work interrogates the socio-cultural interactions between African Americans and the African Diaspora with China in the 20th century.

In 2005, Marketus founded and operated the first African American-owned study abroad organization focused exclusively on increasing the number of African American students studying overseas. His organization successfully matriculated dozens of Black students in his flagship China program. He is an educator, scholar, program director, and filmmaker.

Dr. Presswood has contributed to mainstream periodicals like The Atlantic. He has also contributed to the volume China Tripping: Encountering the Everyday in the People’s Republic edited by Perry Link, Paul Pickowicz, and Jeremy Murray. He is currently working on the documentary Yellow Jazz/Black Music: Race and Culture in the Middle Kingdom and Beyond.