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Associate Professor of English and Africana Studies

Research Topics:

  •  18th & early 19th century Black Atlantic Literature
  • Caribbean & Postcolonial Studies
  • The Slave Narrative
  • The 18th Century British Novel
  • Gender Studies
  • Visual Arts
  • Digital Humanities

Current Research Project:

“The Secret History of the Sable Venus: Re-envisioning Race, Sentiment, and Gender during the Long 18th Century”

Drawing on digital literary analysis and the tools of archival remix, this project highlights the shifting literary representations of Caribbean Women in the UK & Europe in a variety of texts across the long 18th century, in order to explore the various ways in which Europeans created particular narratives about African-descended peoples.

Recent News/Publications/Talks:

  • (journal article) “The Long Song of the Caribbean Colonial Archive: Reading ‘The Memoir of Florence Hall.’”American Literary History. (Forthcoming Winter 2020).
  • (video) Meroe in the Literary Imagination Part of “Ancient Nubia Now!” exhibit, October 13, 2019-January 20, 2020. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
  • (book chapter) “Creole Testimonies in Caribbean Women’s Slave Narratives.” In. Early Caribbean Literature. Vol. Eds. Evelyn O’Callaghan and Tim Watson. Caribbean Literature in Transition Series Editor Allison Donnell. (Cambridge University Press Forthcoming 2020)
  • (online essay) “The Narratives of Ashy and Sibell.” With Jerome Handler. The Oxford African American Studies Center. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Section Editor, Vincent Carretta. (Forthcoming Oxford Online).
  • (book chapter) “First Steps: Just Teach One—Early African American Print.’ With Eric Gardner and Molly O’ Hardy. In D19: Digital Humanities in the Nineteenth-Century American Literatures Classroom.  Eds. Jessica DeSpain and Jennifer Travis. University of Illinois Press, 2018.
  • (edited volume) Literary Histories of the Early Anglophone Caribbean: Islands in the Stream. Co-editors Brycchan Carey (University of Northumberland, UK) and Thomas Krise (Pacific Lutheran University) Palgrave/Springer, April 2018.

Affiliated Research Centers:

Undergraduate Research Projects:

  • Natalie Hackman (COS) “Introduction to Digital Literary Research” (ENGL 2991) Spring 2020, With the Early Caribbean Digital Archive (ECDA)
  • Emma (CSSH) “Theatre and Performance in the Early Caribbean” (PEAK funded research) Spring 2020, With the Early Caribbean Digital Archive (ECDA)
  • Savita Maharaj (CSSH) “The History of Carnival in the Caribbean: 2019 & Spring 2020, A Digital Teaching Unit” (ENGL 2991 & Work-study) With (ECDA)
  • Fatuma Mohamed (CSSH) “CVE Education or Propaganda”  Summer 2019
  • Blair Childs-Briscoe (DMSB) “The Impact of HIV/AIDS on the Development of Black Queer Spaces in Philadelphia” Summer 2018, SSIRF-University Scholars Office
  • Leila Habib (Bouve) “Reclaiming the Narrative: Perspectives on Ethiopia from the Ethiopian Diaspora” Summer & Fall 2018 SSIRF-University Scholars & Honors Project
  • Morgan Hines (Bouve) “Coding for Health Outcomes in 19th century Slave Narratives”2017-2019, SSIRF-University Scholars Office & Honors Project
  • Joe Tache and Prasana Rajasekeran (DMSB & CSSH) “Boston Black Panther Party & Northeastern University”  Summer 2017, SSIRF-University Scholars Office
  • Morgan Adderley (CSSH) “Representations of Native Caribs” ECDA, CSSH-URI  Summer & Fall 2016
  • Nolan Tesis (CSSH) “African American Gay Male Spaces in Literature” CSSH-URI    Summer 2015 

Past Research Projects:

  • Journeys of the Slave Narrative in the Early Americas Co-editor, Ian Finseth (University of North Texas). University of Virginia Press, November 2014.
  • Creole Testimonies: Slave Narratives of The British West Indies, 1709-1838. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2012.