Shawn Anthony Christian is an Associate Professor and the Chairperson of the Department of English at Florida International University. He is also an affiliate faculty member in FIU’s African and African Diaspora and Women’s and Gender Studies programs. Dr. Christian specializes in twentieth-century African American literary and print culture and is the author of The Harlem Renaissance and the Idea of a New Negro Reader (Massachusetts, 2016). He has published articles in related journals and contributed chapters to several volumes.
Additionally, he served as curatorial consultant for Silhouettes: Image and Word in the Harlem Renaissance, which was exhibited at The Wolfsonian-FIU in 2023-2024. Dr. Christian has held various leadership roles, including a term as Associate Provost at Wheaton College (MA) and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities. He is also a former actor and occasional director, having performed in a production of James Baldwin's The Amen Corner and co-directed a production of Ntozake Shange's for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf.
As a literary scholar, teacher, college administrator, and public humanities advocate committed to achieving an equitable and just world, Dr. Christian has extensive experience making education and cultural arts relevant and accessible. This experience includes volunteering, teaching and mentorship, research, publishing, hiring and team building, grant writing and administration, board membership, and sustained engagement, informal and formal, with varied public and private constituencies
Shawn Christian
Associate Professor of English, Florida International University
