Hey, New Fellow Here!
My name is Dasharah (duh-shar-uh). I’m excited to come onboard FI as a fellow and research assistant to Cathy Davidson. I’m a second year PhD fellow in the English department. I earned a BA in English honors with a double minor in Political Science and Africana Studies honors from John Jay College. And, I earned an MA in English from St. John’s University.
As a Brooklyn native, I use my experiences growing up in pre-gentrified Brooklyn as a backdrop to explore the intersections of blackness and Black life. My research intersects radical pedagogy and Black feminist theory/praxis under the umbrella of decolonization studies. I’m specifically interested in how Black radical thinking can be used as a framework to re-imagine the writing classroom. I use language as a tool to re-imagine and uncover/track histories and genealogies of Black life through writing and storytelling. My current research examines the way Black women use the art of writing to break borders, both literally and figuratively. My previous research explored Black feminist hip-hop. I explored how Megan Thee Stallion’s #hotgirl phrase transcends social media to become an intersectional identity marker.
On a personal level, I enjoy traveling and listening to music! I have curated several Spotify playlists – that I am all too eager to share. My favorite genre is R&B – from any decade. My friends and I have taken it upon ourselves to visit various jazz clubs around the city as an effort to take in live music. I also love to travel – specifically, any place that has a beach.