Laura Harris, PhD
Professor of English and World Literature and Africana Studies
With Pitzer Since: 1997
Field Group: English and World Literature, Africana Studies
Campus Address: Avery 218
Phone: 909.607.3633
Email: laura_harris@pitzer.edu
Education:
Ph.D., University of California, San Diego
B.A., San Diego State University
Research Interests:
- 20th century African American literature and culture, Feminist and Queer Theory, Harlem Renaissance Studies, African Diaspora Studies, Performance Studies
Recent Courses
- Autobiography and Community-Learning (ENGL9)
- Survey of American Literature 1880-present (ENGL11b)
- Introduction to African American Literature (ENGL12AF)
- Black Queer Narrative and Theories (ENGL132AF)
- Harlem Renaissance: Gender, Class, and Sexuality (ENGL164AF)
- Major Figures in 20th Century American Literature: James Baldwin (ENGL164AF)
Selected Publications:
- “Hybrid Italians, Diasporic Africans: Who’s/Whose Meticcio?” Callaloo: A Journal of African Diaspora Arts & Letters, vol.31, no.2 (summer 2008).
- “Confessions of the Pillow Queen: Sexual Receptivity & Queer Femininities,” in MaryMcAuliffe and Sonja Tiernan, eds., Tribades, Tommies, and Transgressives: Histories of Sexualities: Volume I.University College Dublin: Cambridge Scholars Press,2008.
- “My Boy,” in G. Winston James, ed., Voices Rising: Celebrating Twenty Years of Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Writing. Washington, DC: RedBone Press, 2007.
- “Harlem Renaissance” and “Lorraine Hansberry,” in Marc Stein, ed., Encyclopedia of American Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History and Culture. New York: CharlesScribner and Sons, 2004.
- “Mae V. Cowdery (1909-1953)” and “A’Lelia Walker (1885-1931),” in Paul E. Schellinger, ed., Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2004.
- Notes from a Welfare Queen in the Ivory Tower: Poetry, Fiction, Letters, and Essays. New York: Face2 Face Press, 2002.
- Femme: Feminists, Lesbians, and Bad Girls. Edited and Introduced by Laura Harris and Liz Crocker. New York: Routledge,1997.
Recent Conferences and Invited Talks:
- “On Theorizing a Black Queer Harlem Renaissance,” paper presented at The Harlem Renaissance Revisited: Politics, Arts, and Letters, University of Connecticut, March 2008.
- Invited Plenary Speaker, Feminisms in the Twentieth Century: Lessons for the Twenty-first Century, The Huntington Library Women’s Studies Seminar Series, Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, March 2008.
Selected Grants, Honors, and Awards:
- Honor award for Faculty Contributions to 5 Colleges’ Queer Community, Lavender Graduation, Queer Resource Center, Pomona College, Spring 2007
- Elected Faculty Marshall, Pitzer Graduation, Pitzer College, Spring 2003
- Outstanding Queer Faculty Award, First Annual Lavender Graduation, Scripps College, Spring 2002
- Notes From A Welfare Queen In The Ivory Tower: poetry, fiction, letters, and essays. Nominated for the American Library Association Stonewall Book Award, 2002.