Hawkes Receives SHARP Development Grant
DeLisa D. Hawkes, assistant professor of Africana studies at UT, received a research development grant from the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP). The grant is for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) scholars and assists Hawkes with conducting research for her first book project tentatively titled Separate Yet Intertwined: Black and Native Bonds in the Ongoing New Negro Renaissance. Hawkes’s book project focuses on how literary works from the period known as the New Negro Renaissance of the 1920s to 1930s discuss the relationships between Black and Indigenous peoples.
“Support from SHARP shows a growing interest in the ongoing distinct yet similar experiences of Black and Indigenous peoples in the United States and the extensive history of their collaborative efforts,” said Hawkes.
Additionally, Hawkes was invited to participate in the 2022 First Book Institute hosted by the Center for American Literary Studies at Penn State University. The Institute consists of workshops geared towards helping the cohort of eight scholars from around the country to develop their book project for publication with a leading university press.
Hawkes’s research explores and brings attention to the experiences of Black and Indigenous people with topics such as enslavement and colonization. Furthermore, she turns her attention to overlooked topics in literature from the New Negro Renaissance.
“Separate Yet Intertwined invites audiences to imagine anticolonial relationships between Black, Indigenous, and people of color, as well as views of the self within these communities,” said Hawkes.
Hawkes is very engaged in community and scholarship at UT. She recently developed AFST 435, a course that explores literary representations of relationships between Black and Indigenous peoples in the United States. Additionally, Hawkesorganized the panel “A Sharecropper’s Dream: The Legacy of Black Farmers and Black Land Ownership” for Black Ecologies Week at UT. She also assisted in bringing the notable Tiffany Lethabo King to speak during Black Ecologies Week.
“I enjoy discussing my research and teaching with students, colleagues from multiple disciplines, and community members,” said Hawkes. “I look forward to more opportunities to bring scholars and community members to campus who are interested in the intersections between Black and Indigenous studies.”
—Story by Sarah Berry