The Career Enhancement Fellowship is used to “increase the presence of junior minority faculty members to eradicate racial disparities, as well as break down stereotypes and promote cross-racial understanding in the arts and sciences.” Dunbar will receive a stipend along with a research, travel or publication grant, and funding to attend the foundation’s Annual Retreat.Dunbar, who is currently teaching a class titled “Black Bolsheviks: Cultural and Literary Exchanges between African Americans and Russians,” decided during a graduate class on 19th century African-American literature to pursue research in the subject.
“I just kept noticing that all of these black people were in Russia, and nobody had spoken about this -- not even my professor had spoken about this -- and I found myself interested in the reasons why black people would have gone to Russia in the 19th century,” Dunbar said.
With the fellowship, Dunbar will spend her time researching Russian literature and the role of black people in Russia during the 19th century. In August, Dunbar will attend a conference in Tampa, Florida to discuss her research interests and will later return to Tampa at the end of the six-month period to talk about the findings of her research.
Dr. Dunbar joined the UAB Department of English in 2013. Originally from New York City, she received her B.A. from Clark Atlanta University and her M.A. from the University of Georgia. She completed her Ph.D. at Emory University.
In addition to researching blacks in 19th-century Russia during her six-month fellowship, she will also devote some of her time learning about writer and activist LeRoi Jones, with the hope of developing a class on the Black Arts Movement and hip-hop.
For more information about the Department of English, visit the department's website.
Anissa Latham-Brown is a 2015-16 UAB Digital Media fellow. She is majoring in African-American Studies and is in the process of creating an individually designed major dealing with Media and Racial Representation.
