Scholar Story: William Calvo-Quirós
September 29, 2016Renowned diversity initiative leads discussion for faculty, grad students
October 9, 2016
Scholar Story: David Green
David Green asks: Is love "a category in which we can recover and redeem black queer histories?"
Dr. Green describes himself as a "black queer southerner devoted to social and political justice for all" - a set of identities and a range of goals that have constantly been challenged in higher education and society. The history of people with his identities and the efforts to empower these communities have been ambitious yet contentious, creating a growing repertoire of victories and possibilities for the future.
As a scholar of literature and history with a particular interest in black queer people, Dr. Green's research focuses on loveby examining how "black queer folks imagine love across their literary culture and activist cutlures". Dr. Green views love and his work as an integral part of "diversity research", which he imagines as a method of "rewriting the history of structural inequalities that disenfranchised persons of color, queer folks, and women."
As an Emerging Diversity Scholar in our Diversity Scholars Network, Dr. Green is helping lead the future of how we define and conduct diversity research. Notably, in our "Future of Diversity Research" convening that examined how the academy has incorporated diversity and how we can shape research and education to benefit diverse communities, Dr. Green presented a workshop entitled "#RevolutionaryWokeness: Teaching Black Studies in Dangerous Times".
This workshop explored the difficulties of teaching black studies in a climate of increasing social and political tension. Drawing upon “Blackstudies” by Audre Lorde and “Master Teacher” by Erykah Badu, Dr. Green worked with participants to explore how to “stay woke” so students in black studies hear what they need, not what they want. Dr. Green argued consciousness, context, contradiction, and (humanized, yet revealing) communication is key to advancing black studies and our students’ ability to navigate blackness and community.
Biography
Lecturer, University of Michigan
Emerging Diversity Scholar in the Social Sciences and Arts & Humanities
Education/Degree: Ph.D., University of Michigan
About:
I am a black queer feminist southerner devoted to social and political justice for all. I am a first-generation college student and the youngest child of six and find being from the hood a most beautiful aspect of my lived experience. When I'm not reading Black LGBT and Feminist literature, poetry, or history, I am more than likely outdoors running (or rollerblading), at the gym, or watching Serena Williams play tennis...while munching on ice cream and warm chocolate chip cookies!
Current Work:
Currently, I'm working on a cultural history of black queer writers in America. Tentatively titled We Love without Mercy: Black Queer Writers and the Cultural Politics of Justice, examines how various black queer writers across the twentieth century imagined a practice of justice through a cultural mosaic of love.
Research Areas:
African American and African Studies
LGBTQ Studies
