1994
With over thirty years of experience in Higher Education, having served in senior leadership as a provost and vice-provost, I am a higher education consultant, coach and restorative justice mediator. In 1994, I was the first African American to earn a PhD in English from Duke University. Author or editor of seven books and contributing as a poet, fiction writer and documentary filmmaker, I am a recognized thought leader on race, social justice, and African American and African Diasporan literatures and cultures.
My English degree has been a key aspect of my work. It not only prepared me to contribute as a tenured faculty member and academic leader, it also shaped my work as a leader.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheila-smith-mckoy-0140268
The Bones Beneath (2024) Teaching Literature and Writing in Prisons (2023) Recovering the African Feminine Divine in Literature, the Arts, and Performing Arts: Yemonja Awakening (2020) One Window’s Light: A Haiku Collection (2017) The Elizabeth Keckley Reader: Artistry, Culture and Commerce (2017) The Elizabeth Keckley Reader: Writing Self, Writing Nation (2016) When Whites Riot: Writing Race and Violence in American and South African Cultures (2001)
English Department