Before joining the faculty at Cornell University in 1993, he taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo, the University of Pennsylvania, the College of Fine and Applied Art in Khartoum, Sudan.[4] In addition to his positions at Cornell, Hassan serves as Dean of The Africa Institute of the Global Studies University in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.[6]
Hassan is an editor and co-founder of Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art, published by Duke University Press.[7] He has authored, edited, and co-edited several books, including Ahmed Morsi: A Dialogic Imagination (2021), Ibrahim El Salahi: A Visionary Modernist (2012), Darfur and the Crisis of Governance: A Critical Reader (2009), and Art and Islamic Literacy among the Hausa of Northern Nigeria (1992).[1]
He has curated and co-curated numerous international exhibitions, such as Authentic/Ex-Centric at the 49th Venice Biennale (2001), Unpacking Europe at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (2001–2002), and The Khartoum School: The Making of the Modern Art Movement in Sudan 1945–Present at the Sharjah Art Foundation (2014).[8][9][10]
Hassan has received several grants and fellowships, including a J. Paul Getty Postdoctoral Fellowship and grants from the Sharjah Art Foundation, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the Prince Claus Fund.[11] In 2021, he was honored as that year's distinguished scholar by the College Art Association (CAA) for his contributions to the field of art history.[12]