Koritha Mitchell, "From Slave Cabins to the White House: Homemade Citizenship in African American Culture"
Koritha Mitchell, Associate Professor of English at Ohio State University and Residential Fellow at the NDIAS (2016-2017), presents her research project, "From Slave Cabins to the White House: Homemade Citizenship in African American Culture," to an interdisciplinary group of scholars, artists, and scientists comprised of fellows, guest faculty and students. Professor Mitchell specializes in African American literature, racial violence throughout U.S. literature and contemporary culture, and black drama and performance. She examines how texts, both written and performed, have helped terrorized families and communities survive and thrive.
Professor Mitchell’s study Living with Lynching: African American Lynching Plays, Performance, and Citizenship, 1890-1930 (2011) won book awards from the American Theatre and Drama Society and from the Society for the Study of American Women Writers. Mitchell’s scholarly articles include “James Baldwin, Performance Theorist, Sings the Blues for Mister Charlie” in American Quarterly, and “Love in Action: Noting Similarities Between Lynching Then and Anti-LGBT Violence Now” in Callaloo. She has also published articles in edited volumes such as Gender and Lynching (Palgrave Macmillan) and Black Performance Theory (Duke) as well as reviews in American Literature, Theatre Journal, and the Journal of American History.
Professor Mitchell values reaching audiences outside of academia, and as a black feminist who understands intersectionality, she has become increasingly committed to LGBTQ+ rights. Her public scholarship has found audiences on radio, television, and online publications, including The Feminist Wire and Feministing. In 2012, she completed the Progressive Women’s Voices media training, given by the Women’s Media Center.
In March 2014, Professor Mitchell lectured at the Library of Congress and was presented with a Certificate of Congressional Recognition. Her research has been supported by fellowships from the Ford Foundation and the American Association of University Women (AAUW).