A second year in Columbia's English and Comparative Literature doctoral program, Channelle Russell is a scholar-writer with a vested interest in exploring theories of representation amidst ruptured discursive and aesthetic encounters with black/womanness. Born in Jamaica and raised in the American South, Channelle's work brings critical theories of dispossession, race, and gender to bear on our contemporary cultural moment.
Prior to joining Columbia, Channelle earned her Master of Letters in Creative Writing with distinction from the University of St Andrews in Scotland and her Bachelor of Arts with highest honors from Emory University, where she studied English and History with a concentration in Black diasporic literatures and history. As a Mellon Mays Fellow, Channelle's research has been generously supported by the Mellon Foundation, Emory University’s Department of History, and the Robert T. Jones Scholarship at the University of St Andrews. She previously worked as a curatorial intern in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture's Center for the Study of Global Slavery.
Channelle is also a creative writer currently at work on a novel exploring spectacle, reality TV, and unruly queer women.
