Bio

Dr. Philathia Bolton teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in mainly 20th century American literature at The University of Akron in Ohio. Her research interests involve women writers, the U.S. civil rights movement, and critical race studies. She has lectured on these subjects, locally, and presented her research at national and international conferences within her discipline. Dr. Bolton co-edited a recently published volume on teaching race titled Teaching with Tension: Race, Resistance, and Reality in the Classroom. Her essay for the volume argues that Black American literature can facilitate a type of race literacy among its readers. She situates Black American literature within a racialized, American, cultural context as she offers this analysis.

Dr. Bolton received her Bachelor’s degree from Spelman College and her doctor of philosophy degree in American Studies from Purdue University-West Lafayette. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, knitting, and spending time in nature.

Project

While at Faber, I will research for and refine my argument about the way colorism impacts certain characters in select works by Black writers. This argument will apply an intersectional reading to intra-racial dynamics, showing the ways in which characters of African descent experience different degrees of privilege or discrimination due to colorism, and will suggest a reason as to why this is the case.