More on Hobson's book: Venus in the Dark: Blackness and Beauty in Popular Culture (Routledge, 2005).
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Women's Studies. Emory University, 2001.
Dissertation: Beauty, Difference, and the Hottentot Venus: Black Feminist Revisions in Performance and Aesthetics, 1810 to the Present. Directed by Frances Smith Foster.
M.A., Teaching of English. Teachers College, Columbia University, 1995.
A.B., English, magna cum laude. University of Georgia, 1994.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Academic Appointments:
Associate Professor of Women's Studies, University at Albany, State University of New York (2008-present).
Interim Chair of Women's Studies (Spring/Summer 2009)
Director of Graduate Studies (2007-present)
Assistant Professor of Women's Studies, University at Albany, State University of New York (2002 - 2008).
Visiting Assistant Professor of Women's Studies, University at Albany, State University of New York (2001-2002).
Teaching Assistant and Instructor, Emory University (1998-2001).
Non-Academic Appointment:
Teacher of English, Nyack High School. Upper Nyack, NY (1995-1996).
AWARDS, GRANTS, AND FELLOWSHIPS
Nuala McGann Drescher Award, State of New York/UUP Affirmative Action (2007).
Faculty Research Award Program-A, University at Albany (2004-2005).
Innovations in Teaching Grant, University at Albany (2003-2004).
Dean's Teaching Fellowship, Emory University (2000-2001).
Internationalization Award, Emory University (1998).
Women's Studies Departmental Graduate Fellowship, Emory University (1996-2000).
Mellon Fellows in Teaching, Columbia University (1994-1995).
Book:
Venus in the Dark: Blackness and Beauty in Popular Culture. New York: Routledge, 2005.
Venus in the Dark explores the legacy of Sara Baartman, the “Hottentot Venus,” in representations of black women's beauty and sexuality in popular culture, from Josephine Baker to dancehall and hip-hop videos, examining theories of reclamation and redefinition in the work of black women artists while also pointing to distorted representations of contemporary black women in mainstream media.
Reviewed by Tavia Nyong'o, “The Body in Question.” International Journal of Communication 1 (2007): 27-31.
Reviewed by Rita Felski, “‘Because it is Beautiful': New Feminist Perspectives on Beauty.” Feminist Theory 7: 2 (2006): 273-282.
Cited in Shirley Tate, “Black Beauty: Shade, Hair, and Anti-Racist Aesthetics.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 30: 2 (March 2007): 300-319.
Cited in Gillian Marcelle, “Taking to the Streets for Renewal and Rejuvenation: Lavagemdo Bonfim 2006.” Feminist Africa 7 (December 2006): 150-55.
Cited in Belinda Deneen Wallace, “Cartographic Memories and Geographies of Pain: Bodily Representations in Caribbean Women's Art.” Ph.D. diss., University of Maryland , 2006.
Cited in Crystal Warren, “South Africa .” Journal of Commonwealth Literature 41: 4 (2006): 181-214.
Refereed Articles:
“Digital Whiteness, Primitive Blackness: Racializing the ‘Digital Divide' in Film and New Media.” Feminist Media Studies 8: 2 (June 2008): 111-126.
“Everybody's Protest Song: Music as Social Protest in the Performances of Marian Anderson and Billie Holiday.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society (Winter 2008): 443-448.
“The ‘Batty' Politic: Toward an Aesthetic of the Black Female Body.” Hypatia 18: 4 (Fall/Winter 2003-2004): 87-105.
Reprint forthcoming in They Called Her Hottentot: The Art, Science, and Fiction of Sarah Baartman . Carla Williams and Deborah Willis, eds. Philadelphia : Temple University Press.
Cited in Laura Callanan's Deciphering Race: White Anxiety, Racial Conflict, and the Turn to Fiction in Mid-Victorian English Prose. Columbus : The Ohio State University Press, 2006.
Cited in Alice Di Certo, “The Unconventional Photographic Self-Portraits of John Coplans, Carla Williams, and Laura Aguilar.” Master's Thesis , Georgia State University, 2006.
“Viewing in the Dark: Toward a Black Feminist Approach to Film.” Women's Studies Quarterly 30: 1 & 2 (Spring/Summer 2002): 45-59.
Book Chapters:
“Militarizing Women in Film: Toward a Cinematic Framing of War and Terror.” In Security Disarmed: Critical Perspectives on Gender, Race, and Militarization, 367-387. Barbara Sutton, Sandra Morgen, and Julie Novkov, eds. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2008.
“Searching for Janet in Cyberspace: Race, Gender, and the Interface of Technology.” In Techknowledgies: New Imaginaries in Humanities, Arts, and Techno-sciences. Mary Valentis, ed. London: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2007.
“Early African American Women Writers” with Frances Smith Foster. A History of Southern Women's Literature, 87-96. Carolyn Perry and Mary-Louise Weaks, eds. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2002.
Edited Volume:
“Representin': Women, Hip Hop, and Popular Music,” special issue for Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism 8: 2 (2008), guest co-edited with R. Dianne Bartlow.
Reviews:
Rev. of Patricia Hill Collins's From Black Power to Hip Hop: Racism, Nationalism, and Feminism in African American Review (2008): 176-178.
“The Personal is Global: Teaching Global Feminist Consciousness.” Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy (Fall 2006): 96-104 . (Media Review)
Rev. of Robert F. Reid-Pharr's Conjugal Union: The Body, the House, and the Black American in African American Review 35: 2 (2001): 315-317.
Encyclopedia Entry
“The Hottentot Venus.” In Encyclopedia of Race and Racism. Macmillan Reference USA.
Exhibition Catalog:
James Weldon Johnson: An Exhibition, co-edited with Miriam J. Petty. Atlanta: Emory University Publications, 1999.
WORKS IN PROGRESS
Invited chapter for Volume on A Cultural History of Women.
Oral History Project in the communities of Nevis and the Diaspora on the subject of the M.V. Cristena ferryboat sinking between the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis on August 1, 1970.
Body as Evidence: Mediating Race,Globalizing Gender: This book proposal presents a collection of essays assembled to discuss the bodies of women of color by situating popular culture within a larger context of the digital revolution and media technologies, while also examining the state of contemporary feminist movement through articulated “embodied resistance” via performance and art.
Are All the Women Still White? Globalizing Women's Studies : This volume (co-edited with Ime A. S. Kerlee) signifies on the 1982 anthology, All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us are Brave, edited by Akasha Gloria Hull, Patricia Bell Scott, and Barbara Smith, and updates concerns of the exclusion of women of color in Women's Studies while also focusing on the ways that these earlier scholarly claims have allowed for new inquiries, theories, and practices that have diversified and globalized the discipline of Women's Studies.
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Invited Lectures
"Rethinking History from the Perspective of Women of Color." Delivered at the College of St. Rose, Albany, NY. March 24, 2009.
“Pop Goes Democracy: Mediated Narratives of ‘ America Votes.'” Delivered at the State University of New York at Plattsburg, NY. November 5, 2008.
“A Women's History of the World: Decolonizing Our Feminist (Word) Views.” Delivered at Indiana University at South Bend, IN. October 8, 2008.
"Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice: Operationalizing a Feminist Vision of Intersectionality." Keynote Panel at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, Albany, NY. September 25, 2008.
“Women/Writers and the World: Activism and Literary Studies.” Closing Plenary at the Society for the Study of American Women Writers Conference, Philadelphia , PA. November 2006.
“Evolutions in Stereotype: Sara Baartman, Violent Legacies, and the Burden of Representation.” Delivered at Le Moyne College. March 8, 2006.
Guest Lecture delivered for the Graduate Seminar, “Special Topics: Critical Readings in Black Popular Culture,” taught by Associate Professor Mark Anthony Neal at Duke University. February 20, 2006.
“Why Sara Baartman Matters: Reclaiming the Hottentot Venus for Women's Studies.” Delivered at the University of Maryland for the lecture series, “The Possibilities of Women's Studies: Emerging Scholars Herald the Future.” March 9, 2005.
Presentations at Professional Conferences
"Global Spheres, Local Contexts, and Militarized Violence against Black Women." Delivered at the National Women's Studies Association Annual Conference. Cincinnati, OH. June 2008.
“Body as Evidence: DNA, Video Surveillance, and the Specter of Racialized Sexual Violence.” Delivered at the National Women's Studies Association Annual Conference. St. Charles, IL. June 2007.
“Christena: Memories of a Ferryboat Disaster.” Delivered at the Collegium for African American Research Conference , Madrid , Spain. April 2007.
“Digital Whiteness, Primitive Blackness: Racializing the ‘Digital Divide' in Film and Art.” Delivered at Southwest Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Associations Conference, Albuquerque, NM. February 2006.
“Decolonizing the Future: Reclaiming Cyber Environments.” Roundtable Panel moderated at National Women's Studies Association Annual Conference, Orlando, FL. June 2005.
“The Emergence of the Hottentot Venus in Transatlantic Discourse.” Delivered at Collegium for African American Research Conference, Tours, France. April 2005.
“The Hottentot Venus Revisited: Locating Saartjie Baartman in Transatlantic Black Feminist Discourse.” Delivered at the African Studies Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA. November 2004.
“Risking Rhetoric: Black (W)holes, White Spaces, and Cultural Representations of Black Atlantic Womanhood.” Roundtable Panel presented at National Women's Studies Association Annual Conference, Milwaukee, WI. June 2004.
“The Caribbean as Cultural Commodity: A Reading of Edwidge Danticat.” Delivered at the Caribbean Studies Association Annual Conference, St. Kitts, West Indies. May 2004.
“Freedom in the Shadows of Slavery: Traumas of Emancipation in Toni Morrison's Beloved and Kara Walker's Silhouettes.” Delivered at National Women's Studies Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA. June 2003.
“Performing Black Venus.” Delivered at Collegium for African American Research Conference, Winchester, England. April 2003.
“Black Atlantic Discourse in Black Feminist Films: The Case of Julie Dash and Ngozi Onwurah.” Delivered at Collegium for African American Research, Winchester, England. April 2003.
“New Age Africa: Commodification, Cultural Identity, and the Romanticization of ‘Africa.'” Delivered at National Women's Studies Association Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV. June 2002.
“Remembering Saartjie: The Politics of Memorializing the Hottentot Venus in the Black Atlantic.” Delivered at Collegium for African American Research Conference, Williamsburg, VA. May 2000.
“The Black Feminist Scholar: Within and Without the Academy.” Delivered at Black Women in the Academy Conference, Washington DC. June 1999.
“I'm Not Caliban's Woman: Responding to Sylvia Wynter.” Delivered at Caribbean Studies Association Conference, St. John, Antigua, WI. May 1998.
“To Make Women Butterflies: The ‘Image-Making Powers' of Julia Alvarez and Edwidge Danticat.” Delivered at Association of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars Conference, Grand Anse, Grenada, WI. May 1998.
“The Invisible Made Visible: Revolutionary Images and the Oppositional Gaze in Julie Dash's Daughters of the Dust.” Delivered at American Women Writers of Color Conference, Ocean City, MA. October 1997.
Campus Presentations
"Venus and the Hottentot: Situating the Black Female Body in Art and History." Delivered at the Department of Art, University at Albany. April 9, 2008.
“Pedagogy of the Privileged: Feminist Pedagogy and the Challenge of Diversity in the College Classroom.” Delivered at the “American Dilemmas” Diversity Conference, University at Albany. May 23, 2007.
"Feminist Instructor and the Classroom Challenge." Roundtable Discussant at the "Feminism, Activism, and the Academy" Regional Conference, College of St. Rose. March 24, 2007
Panelist in Response to Euripides' Trojan Women, directed by Jackie Roberts. April 30, 2006.
“Pictorial Evidence and Digital Circuits: Framing the Black Female Body in Photography and Cyberspace.” Delivered at the University at Albany Humanitech Conference, Albany, NY. April 23, 2004.
Keynote Address at Cultural Studies Conference. April 27, 2003.
“Something about the Subject Makes it Hard to Teach: Issues of Diversity in the Classroom.” Delivered at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. March 19, 2003.
“Romancing the Other: Appropriations of Third World Sexuality and Spirituality” with Viven Ng and Jennifer Champ. Delivered at Women's Studies Colloquium, University at Albany. April 26, 2002.
“‘What Makes the Hottentot so Hot?' Researching Saartjie Baartman in Paris” with Namita Goswami. Delivered at Women's Studies Colloquium, Emory University. April 24, 2000.
Public Scholarship
Interview forthcoming for the documentary film, Show People (Directed by Bijan Bayne, Reel History Films).
“How Will This Free Us? Looking Back and Moving Forward on the Issues of Race and Gender.” Lecture delivered at First Reformed Church of Schenectady. January 20, 2008.
Interview with Tessa Howell, “Sister to Sister.” CHOICE FM 105.3. January 26, 2007.
Interview with Amba Trott, “Artistic License,” CHOICE FM 105.3. January 23, 2007.
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Courses Taught
CAS 103: Perspectives on Globalization (team-taught)
UNI 301: Foundation of Great Ideas: Globalization and Film (team-taught)
WSS/AAS/LCS 240: Classism, Racism, and Sexism
WSS 281: Women and the Media (developed summer online course version)
WSS 282Z: Narratives and Counter-Narratives
WSS 342X: Electronic Publishing in Women's Studies (co-taught with Vivien Ng)
WSS 360: Feminist Social and Political Thought
WSS 361: Gender and Nation in World Cinema (co-taught with Vivien Ng)
WSS 399: Special Topics in Women's Studies: Race, Gender, and the Body
WSS/AAS/HIS 440/540: Black Women in US History
WSS 545: Black Diasporas, Feminisms, and Sexual Politics
WSS 565: Feminist Theory
WSS 510: Advanced Feminist Pedagogy in Theory
WSS 590: Feminist Research Seminar
WSS 599: Topics in Women's Studies: Race, Gender, and Global Popular Culture
Courses Developed
WSS 242X (now WSS 342X): “E-Journal Editing and Publishing” (developed with Vivien Ng and Vivien E. Zazzau through the Innovations in Teaching Grant for the peer-reviewed undergraduate editing of the electronic journal, transcending silence… )
In this course, we will edit and publish an e-journal. Additionally, we will study the impact of information technology on our daily lives. In the first part of the course, we broaden our understanding of IT and its effects by examining the impact of the internet and digital media on how we read, write, and access information. In part two, we study the impact on writing. In part three, the final unit, we edit and publish transcending silence ...
WSS 282Z: “Narratives and Counter-Narratives” (to serve as a general education writing intensive course and an introductory course to the concentration in “Writing, Arts, and Activism” for the undergraduate major in Women's Studies)
This interdisciplinary course examines feminist and other subversive responses to “master narratives” that silence or prompt alternative narratives addressing concerns from marginal perspectives. We will explore different narrative genres and determine the effectiveness of producing counter-hegemonic expressions to challenge viewpoints from the mainstream or status quo and to advance social justice for women and other under-represented groups. Students will also create their own counter-narratives as a final project while assessing these issues.
WSS 361: “Gender and Nation in World Cinema” (developed with Vivien Ng)
The aim of this course is to apply critical race, postcolonial, and feminist theories in the examination of intersections of gender and nation in cinematic representations from different world regions. We will explore national cinemas through historical, transnational, cultural and political contexts and engage these issues through critical thinking and writing exercises. In a given semester, the course may focus – through the cross-cultural lens – on one geographical region, cultural tradition, or theme.
WSS 545: “Black Diasporas, Feminisms, and Sexual Politics”
This course will explore in global perspective concepts of blackness and its relationship to feminist and other women-led and gender-based political movements that have shaped complex discourses on the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and nationality. Challenging such terms as the “African Diaspora” – a reference to the dispersed locations of African-descended people across the globe – or even the “Black Atlantic,” as coined by Paul Gilroy, we will expand the geopolitical spheres of Europe , America , Africa , and the Caribbean to traverse different oceanic spaces that include “Black Australia” and Afro-Asia. Through these transnational lenses, we will question how blackness, and black femininity in particular, shift meanings in varied locations but also converge in formations of global identities, marginalized experiences, and political movements. Topics covered may include history-telling and memory-making, cultural representations of the “black” body in arts and popular culture, sex trafficking and migrations, articulations of “black feminisms” and sexual identities, and social crises and social change.
Master's Thesis Projects and Senior Honors Projects
Serving as Chair:
Revital Aranbaev, The Murders of Juarez: Have Maquiladoras Perpetuated Violence against Women in Juarez, Mexico? (B.A. – Spring 2005)
Alysha Cooley, Comprehensive Exam on Black Masculinities. (M.A. – Fall 2006)
Amirah Cousins, Representations of a Black/White Confluence of Racial Identity: Literature and the Tragic Mulatta. (M.A. – Spring 2007)
Emily Dimon, Marked Territories: Colonial Narratives of Pierced and Tattooed Bodies in Film. (M.A. – Spring 2004)
Shahin Kachwala, African Women and Sexual Politics in Literature. (M.A. – Spring 2007)
Jiel Latimer, Policing the Beat: Hip-Hop Bodies on Lockdown (Film). (M.A. - Spring 2009)
Anne Lotito, Between the Lines: An Introduction to the 1870 Diary of Emma White. (M.A. – Spring 2004)
Sylvia E. Perez, Sex on the Beach: Tourism in Contemporary Advertisements (Film) . (M.A. – Fall 2007)
Melissa Tacke, Constructing Identity, History, and Knowledge in the Comix of Miné Okubo and Marjane Satrapi. (M.A. – Spring 2005)
___________, Whose Queer Planet? Western Hegemony, Colonial Legacies, and the Globalization of LGBT Identities and Movements. Recipient of Presidential Award for Undergraduate Research. (B.A. – Spring 2003)
Serving as Committee Member:
Renee Applegate, Comprehensive Exam on Postcolonial Feminism and Literary Theories. (M.A. – Fall 2004)
Akiko Buyo, Globalized Cultural Colonization and the Ganguro Phenomenon in Japan. (M.A. – Spring 2004)
Amy Scott, The Commodification of Girl Culture (M.A. – expected Summer 2008)
Student Conferences Supervised at University at Albany, SUNY:
Race Matters to Feminism. (Fall 2008)
Media Justice and Feminist Futures. (Fall 2007)
Looking Back, Moving Forward: Celebrating 35 Years of Women's Studies. (Fall 2006)
Arranger and Director of Undergraduate Student Performance, Words of the Prophets, debuting at student conference. (Fall 2006)
Home/land (In)Securities: A Critical Feminist Conference in Response to Hurricane Katrina. (Fall 2005)
Doing Justice, Living Feminism: Practicing What We Preach. (Fall 2004)
Lost in Translation? Global Flows in Popular Culture. (Fall 2003)
Other(ed) Voices: Who's Listening? (Fall 2002)
Instructional Technology Training
Online Course Development (with Blackboard CE6)
WebCT Online Course Support
Macromedia Dreamweaver Web Development
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ACADEMIC SERVICES AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
State University of New York:
Editorial Board Member of SUNY Press (2009-present)
University:
Presidential Advisory Council for the Prevention of Sexual Assault (2008)
Ford Foundation “Difficult Dialogues” Network (2006)
Faculty Marshall, spring commencement ceremonies (2005-2006)
University Commission on Diversity and Affirmative Action (2002-2005)
College of Arts and Sciences:
Theatre Department, Tenure and Promotions Committee (2009)
Institute for Research on Women, active board member (2002-present)
Faculty Council, Academic Programs Committee (2003-2004)
Faculty Council, Academic Support Committee (2002-2003)
Department of Women's Studies:
Interim Chair of Women's Studies (Spring/Summer 2009)
Speakers Committee (2003-present)
Serving as Chair
Undergraduate Committee (2003-present)
Graduate Committee (2002-2005, 2007-present)
Serving as Director of Graduate Studies (2007-2008)
Job Search Committees (Fall 2003, Fall 2005)
COLLOQUIA, SYMPOSIA, FILM SERIES, AND EXHIBITS ORGANIZED
Danger Zones: Mapping Women's Lives Film Series, Spring 2009 (with Angie Aguilar and Jiel Latimer) - University at Albany.
Women's Studies Colloquium series, 2002-2008 (with Vivien Ng, 2002-2004, 2008) – University at Albany.
Frankenstein Manifesto: Sci-Fi Film Series, 2005 (with Brian Keough) – University at Albany.
Institute for Research on Women Film Series, 2003-2004 (with Vivien Ng) – University at Albany.
Gendered Diasporas: An International Women's Film Festival, October-November 2000. – Emory University.
Black Print Culture of the 1960s and 1970s, Special Collections Exhibition, August-September 2000. – Emory University.
Un-Disciplined: Tensions and Transgressions in Feminist Scholarship, Women's Studies Graduate Students' Symposium, April 1999. – Emory University.
James Weldon Johnson: An Exhibition, Special Collections Exhibition, February-March 1999. – Emory University.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
African Studies Association
American Studies Association
Caribbean Studies Association
Collegium for African American Research
National Women's Studies Association
Popular Culture and American Culture Associations
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ACADEMIC INTERESTS
Research Interests: global critical race and black feminist theories; interdisciplinary approaches to literature, film, and popular culture.