Cornell’s Riché Richardson Wins Book Award From the Society for the Study of Southern Literature

Riché Richardson, professor of African American literature in the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University in Ithaca New York, has been awarded the C. Hugh Holman Award from the Society for the Study of Southern Literature. The award will be presented to Professor Richardson at the Modern Language Association conference in January 2024.

The Holman award is named for C. Hugh Holman, who taught southern literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for three decades and helped to establish the National Humanities Center.

Professor Richardson was honored for her book Emancipation’s Daughters: Reimagining Black Femininity and the National Body (Duke University Press, 2021). The judges commended Richardson for “offering a broad readership of scholars and an interested general public a rich text that demonstrates some of the transdisciplinary possibilities of southern studies.”

“As a study of public performances of black womanhood in the United States, with most of her subjects rooted in the ‘Africana South,’ her insightful analysis encompasses a long historical arc, and five very different women — from Mary McLeod Bethune, Rosa Parks, Condoleeza Rice, and Michelle Obama through Beyoncé — and touches on many more,” they wrote.

Dr. Richsrdson joined the Cornell University faculty in 2008 after teaching at the University of California, Davis. She is a graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta, where she majored in English. She holds a Ph.D. in American literature from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

New Legislation Aims to Boost Entrepreneurial Efforts of HBCU Students

Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05) has introduced the Minority Entrepreneurship Grant Program Act, bipartisan legislation that creates a grant program with the Small Business Administration for entrepreneurs at minority-serving institutions like historically Black colleges and universities.

Jackson State University Launches Four New Research Projects With Princeton University

The program is funded by the Princeton Alliance for Collaborative Research and Innovation (PACRI) and was developed in partnership with the United Negro College Fund. Each project receives up to $250,000 in funding for a duration of two years.

After a Sharp Drop During the Pandemic, Young Black Students Return to School

In 2020, 40.9 of non-Hispanic Black children ages 3 and 4 were enrolled in school compared to 61.7 percent in 2022. Non-Hispanic Black children ages 3 and 4 were more likely to be enrolled in school in 2022 than similarly aged children in any other major racial or ethnic group.

Darrin Martin Is the New Leader of Bluefield State University in West Virginia

Dr. Martine is a third-generation graduate of Bluefield State as both his mother and grandmother are alumnae. He has been serving as an associate professor of education, dean of academic support, and, director of graduate education studies.

Featured Jobs