Book
The Epic Trickster: From Sunjata to So(u)l
The Epic Trickster is a theorizing of the trans-Atlanticcontinuity and discontinuity of the traditional African epic. My study situates this form of art and social performance at the intersection of the American aesthetic, which at once implicates the synergy between the trickster and epic narratives. Hence, I explore the European/American epic aesthetics and nation; race theory, resistance, and trauma; American jurisprudence; class and sociology; and, popular culture (sport and film).
Select Publications and Projects
“Nalo Hopkinson’s Urban Jungle and the Cosmology of Freedom: How Capitalism Underdeveloped the Black AmeriArts & Sciences and Left a Brown Girl in the Ring.” Foundation 81 (Spring 2001): 22-39.
“Futurist Fiction & Fantasy: The Racial Establishment.” Callaloo 24.1 (2001): 236-52.
“Speakng in Tongues: An Interview with Science Fiction Writer Nalo Hopkinson.” African American Review 33.4 (1999): 589-601.
“Hell Hath No Fury Like a Pledge Scorned . . . and Injured: Hazing Litigation in U.S. Colleges and Universities.” Journal of College & University Law 25.2 (1998): 361-97.
Whisper, of a Fire in the Forest (novel in progress)
Courses Regularly Taught
ENGL 244: African American Literature from Mid-Antebellum to the Present
ENGL 4/845B: Race, Law and Literature
Education
PhD (2005), University of Wisconsin—Madison
English Literature
MA (1999), University of Wisconsin—Madison
Afro-American Studies
JD/MAMC (1992), University of Florida
Areas of Interest
African-American literature and culture, including speculative fiction, literary history, the African-American epic aesthetic, folklore
American Studies
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