Biography
Margaret Banks is a PhD candidate in English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. Her dissertation, “Burdened Becomings: Black Girlhood, Futurity, And the Literary Makings of Something Else to Be,” examines black girlhood’s relationship to the future in late 20th century black diasporic women’s literature. It argues that the authors, including Jamaica Kincaid and Toni Cade Bambara, challenge black girlhood’s temporal constraint and gesture toward models of development that extend beyond capitalist and antiblack logics. These gestures reflect Margaret’s broader interest in education and commitment to facilitating spaces that aid students in thinking critically about their development and worlds. Prior to doctoral study she taught middle school humanities. She seeks to carry the flexibility, curiosity, and humor she learned from her middle school classroom to her college one. She holds a B.A. in English from Amherst College and a M.A. in Education from Stanford University.
