Expertise in Depth:

Kimberly Benston is a noted expert in the fields of African-American literature and Renaissance literature whose scholarly interests incorporate African-American photography, jazz, sermons and dance.

Benston is currently finishing a book on African-American literary history which illuminates the literary tradition of African-American writers from slave narratives to Toni Morrison.

He also has recently completed a book, Performing Blackness, on African-American public performance modes, including sermons, modern drama, poetry, autobiography, criticism, jazz and dance. This work, which received the Errol Hill Award from the American Society for Theatre research, examines how African-American performance has been influenced by vernacular and oral traditions. In 1990, Benston received a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship for his work on the role of the Black Arts Movement in the history of African-American literature and culture. Benston is now developing a book on African-American photography since World War II.