Education
Doctoral Candidate · English Literature and Cultural Studies, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 2018- Present. Dissertation: Black Worldbuilding in Contemporary Black Speculative Fiction and Visual Arts
MA · English, Literature and Cultural Studies, University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 2017. Thesis: My Black Body Under the White Gaze: Hypervisibility in Sierra Faye’s “Comfort in the Undiscovered,” 2009, and Xaviera Simmons "One Day and Back Then (seated)," 2007.
BA, summa cum laude · English, Literature, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN 2013.
Research Interests
Black Studies, Black feminism, Afrofuturism, Afropessimism, Occult studies, Queer theory, Black speculative visual and literary arts, Horror, Science fiction, Film/Media, 20th century through contemporary Black arts and culture
Awards and Fellowships
Elizabeth Kerr MacFarlane Scholarship in Humanities, UW 2022
Humanities Without Walls National Predoctoral Career Diversity Summer Workshop at University of Michigan, 2022
Curator Fellow at Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI), 2022
Jacob Lawrence Gallery’s BIPOC Graduate Student Curatorial Fellowship, University of Washington, 2021
Black Opportunity Fund at University of Washington for The Chorus, 2021 & 2022
EWP’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Collaboration Grant for The Chorus, 2020
Mellon Collaborative Summer Fellowship for Public Projects in Humanities, Simpson Center for the Humanities. 2020
Curatorial Projects and Art Shows
Curator for Black Invention in 3 Parts, SOIL Gallery, Seattle, February 2023. Designed an exhibition around a prominent theme in Black studies: imagining other worlds to invent. Collaborated with the visions of the literary and visual artists and fostered conversations about their arts as it relates to the theme. Managed gallery layout by following selected curatorial design “rules” and experimenting with other rules to challenge curatorial standards. Managed budget to fairly compensate artists and provide materials for their works.
Curator Fellow, Portraits of Ecstatic Feeling: Al Smith Collection, MOHAI Seattle. March- September 2022. Conducted archival research in MOHAI’s collection, specifically studying Al Smith’s photographs, negative, wide-format prints, and writings. Lectured on Smith’s aesthetics choices, themes, and impact on the Seattle Black community throughout the 20th century and beyond. Led a public workshop to guide and teach participants on the skills of close reading and analyzing Smith’s photographs.
Curator for Queer Imagination: Ecstatic Worldbuilding at The Jacob Lawrence Gallery, Seattle. June-July 2021. Designed an exhibition with artist-scholars on their worldbuilding practices to show how art influences scholarly work. Hosted conversations about the meaning of ecstatic as the transcendence of materiality. Collaborated with artists across Pacific Northwest and UW. Designing gallery layout. Managed events accompanying the exhibition.
Co-Founder of The Chorus: Artistic Responses as Academic Discourse, Seattle, WA. May 2021- August 2022. Launched, produced, and edited a video-based educational and artistic workshop series. Networked with cultural studies graduate students and instructors. Lead discussions on critical cultural works and artistic responses to these works
Curator and Presenting Artist for Juneteenth Art Show at The Beans Gallery, Chicago. June 2018. Developed an art and performance show to critical thinks about “freedom” in contemporary methods of racial capitalism. Selected and Gather with local artists, poets, comedians, and musicians to decide pieces that will contribute to the show’s theme. Spearheaded main events and other discussion-based events surrounding the show. Designed the layout of the gallery and run of the performance.
Co-Curator and Presenting Artist for Amethyst Art Show at The Beans Gallery, Chicago, February 2018. Collaborated with colleagues to create an art and performance show that thinks about healing within colonial societies. Networked with local artist and performers in Chicago area. Spearheaded the main event through scheduling the show, designing layout of gallery, and promoting the artwork and event. Managed artist contracts, legal fees, and equipment
Administrative Experience
Artist Fellowship Program Coordinator at Henry Art Gallery, June 2021-June 2022. Developed programs to facilitate community, scholarly, and artistic gathering–– Ritual: Form and Function for Graduate students and other roundtable discussions and programs.
Expository Writing Program Assistant Director at University of Washington, Seattle, August 2019- June 2021. Scheduled and coordinated time-sensitive meetings and workshops for students and instructors. Trained incoming multimodal and expository writing instructors. Served on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion grant committee, aiding in decisions on allocating funds. Developed and delivered strategies for anti-racist teaching, creative teaching, and multimodal teaching.
Research Assistant to Professor Laura Chrisman at University of Washington, Seattle, September 2018- May 2020. Documented and organized photographs, letters, and materials from the early stages of The Black Scholar. Updated and maintained Dr. Chrisman’s materials via Endnotes, Microsoft products, and Google Drive. Collaborated with Dr. Chrisman to bring Dr. Frank Wilderson, III to UW for a lecture.
Gallery Manager at The Beans Gallery, Chicago, IL, June 2017- July 2018. Designed layout of gallery for local artists, musicians, writers, and craft-makers. Managed art sales and customer & artist relations. Spearheaded 15 community-centered art shows and community events. Connected artists, lecturers, and activists based on artistic and thematic interests. Managed a calendar, contracts, invoices, and other paperwork to keep track of artwork and events. Created newsletters, flyers and photographs to promote events and artworks using Microsoft and Adobe suite (Ps and Ai)
Teaching Experience
Instructor of Writing & Composition, 2018-Current
English 101: English Composition, Seattle Central College (4 sections)
English 110: Stretched Introductory Composition, University of Washington (1 section)
English 131: Composition: Exposition, University of Washington (2 sections)
English 197: Writing in the Humanities, University of Washington (1 section)
English 281: Intermediate Expository Writing, University of Washington (1 section)
English 381: Advance Expository Writing, University of Washington (1 sections)
Incorporated Black feminist, radical and experimental pedagogical resources to design 10-week courses training undergraduate students on communication and writing practices with emphasis on Black art and thought. Lectured and facilitated discussions on close reading, different forms of textual analysis, complex argumentation, and source credibility. Designed assignment prompts for creating multimodal, creative, research-based texts. Assessed over 200 writings and multimodal projects for clarity and effective communication, as well as mentoring students contributions to Black arts discourse. Adapted in-personal learning materials to distance learning approaches. Specialized in Black feminist and Black studies art and literary criticism.
Instructor of Literary and Cultural Studies
African American 318: Black Horror, University of Washington (1 section)
English 202: Introduction to Literary Studies, University of Washington (TA, 2 sections)
Hum 101: Humanities First Foundation (TA, 2 sections)
Extensively reviewed historical and contemporary scholarship in literary studies to develop 10- week sessions training undergraduates on the art of criticism. Designed pedagogical resources to enhance student’s understanding of course materials. Lectured and facilitated discussions on Feminism, New Criticism, Marxism, Deconstruction, Genre, Epistemology, Afropessisism, and other topics concerning Black studies. Developed weekly prompts to aid students in their comprehensions of the lessons. Collaborated with colleagues on equitable and timely rubric and feedback best practices.
Publication
Academic
“You Cannot See Me: A Brief Visual Analysis of Sierra Faye’s ‘Comfort in the Undiscovered.” Outlier Chapbook. Hawai‘i Review 88. 2017. 1-7.
“The Very Real Effects of an Illusionary Circuit System: Using Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye to Contemplate Black Existence with White Supremacy.” National Foreign Language Resource Center: Celebrating Voices-- Past, Present, Future. 2016. 26-29
Art Writing
“Remove What the Body Can’t Hold: Visual Analysis of Wangechi Mutu’s All the Way Up, All the Way Out (2012),” A Year in Black Art. Black Embodiments Studios. V.4. 2021. 10-11.
“Black Life Exploited for White Lies: Ilana Harris-Babou’s Long Con at Jacob Lawrence Gallery,” Variable West. 2021
“Ojih Odutola’s Birmingham (2014)” A Year in Black Art. Black Embodiments Studios. V.3. 2020. 11-15.
“On Nadia Huggins’s Circa No Future.” MFON exhibition catalog. Ed. Berette Macaulay. 2020.
“Memories Within Reach: on Ebony G. Patterson.” In Plain Sight: A Collection of Response from the University of Washington Community. Henry Arts Gallery. 2020.
“Rethinking ‘Knowledge’ with Edgar Arceneaux’s Library of Black Lies (2016).” A Year In Black Art. Black Embodiments Studios. V.2. 2019. 3-5.
Presentations
Invited
"Art Reflection and Writing Workshop with Brittney Frantece,” Henry Art Gallery for Plural Possibilities & the Female Body. April 2021
“Contemporary Black Art,” Guest Lecturer. The Northwest School. Seattle, Wa. Spring 2019 & 2022
“Bodily Alienation in Alison Saar's Cotton Eater (head), 2016 and Cotton Eater II, 2018.” Panelist, Panel: “Beyond Labour Power.” Red May. Seattle, Wa. 2019
Other
“Flesh of the Moon: a Visual and Literary Analysis of Eve Ewing’s Electric Arches and Briana McCarthy’s ‘Garden of Lost Things.’ Panelist, Panel: Technically Black: An Examination of Black Bodies in Speculative Works.” English Department Annual Conference, University of Maryland, 2018.
“You Cannot See Me: Hypervisibility in Xaviera Simmons’s and Sierra Faye’s photographs.” Panelist, Panel: Women Talking Back: The Artist, the Student Writer, and the Memoirist. Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), Portland, Or, 2017
