Education

Ph.D., Emory University
M.S., University of Kentucky
B.A., University of Kentucky

Biography

Michelle Hite earned her Ph.D. from Emory University in American/African American Studies in 2009. Her dissertation used Venus and Serena Williams as subjects whose representation in popular media, books, videos, and other texts prompted her research questions regarding what their public portrayal might suggest about the intersection of race, gender, and nationalism during late capitalism.

Although Dr. Hite remains deeply interested in sports, her intellectual work now focuses on African-American life, culture, and experience in the United States during the mid-twentieth century. To this end, she is currently working on a monograph about the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on September 15, 1963.

In addition to her work as an associate professor in the English department at Spelman, Dr. Hite is director of the Ethel Waddell Githii Honors Program and director of International Fellowships and Scholarships.

Courses Taught

ENG 347: Emmett Till: The Cultural (After) Life of an American Boy
ENG 422: Except Sunday: African American Working Class Culture
ENG 441B: Toni Morrison Seminar

Research Interests

Death and Mourning in African American Culture; Toni Morrison

Publications

"Beyonce, Black Motherhood, and the Return of Wrenching Times." Feminist Encounters: A Journal of Critical Studies in Culture and Politics. Volume 3 Issue 1-2: 10 Sep 2019.

“Andre’s Dread: Communicating Survival of Racial Terror.” Phylon 54.2. Special Volume on Hip Hop Culture and Rap Music Aesthetics in the Post-Civil Rights South, 28-40. Winter 2017.

News

Survive and Advance: A BOTM Extended Play
Bottom of the Map podcast on NPR that was chosen for an extended play.

Amy Sherald interview for Art Papers Live

Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2018