Phyllis Burns

Phone
614-823-1221

Email
plburns@otterbein.edu

Office
Towers 330

Associate Professor
Department of English

Specializations:African American Literatures, Hip Hop Culture, Black Women’s Culture Studies, and Black Radical Theory.

Education

  • B.A., Western Michigan University, 1984
  • M.A., Western Michigan University, 1998
  • Ph.D., Michigan State University, 2006

Research, Creative, & Professional Work

  • African American Literatures
  • Hip Hop Culture
  • Black Women鈥檚 Culture Studies
  • Black Radical Theory
"[You] can starve from a lack of self realization as much as from a lack of bread." ~ Richard Wright Senior project interests:I鈥檓 intrigued by projects that focus on literature and popular culture; literature and politics; film and television media; and studies of historical novels. I also look forward to senior projects on African American or Black Literature; dystopias; and sociopolitical commentaries framed by satire and memoir. Recent or new topical courses:"Dystopias," "Women & Hip Hop," "Civil Rights & the Black Power Movements," 鈥淎frican American Satire鈥� and 鈥淎dolescent Literature.鈥� Scholarship:Author of 鈥淟et鈥檚 Worry the Line: Black Radicalism and the Bourgeois Ideal鈥� [dissertation], 鈥淐overing Condemnation for the 鈥楪oal of Freedom.鈥欌�� (Proud Flesh: New Afrikan Journal of Culture, Politics & Consciousness), and 鈥溾�業鈥檒l Be There鈥�: The Love and Defense Narrative of Black Girl Lost鈥� (Black Classic Press). I鈥檝e also written on African American cinema, Kehinde Wiley, Sherley Anne Williams, Essence magazine, and the monthly column, 鈥淜rik?鈥� (Mainstream Press: Voices of the African Diaspora).