Collegiate Affiliation
Assistant Professor,
African American & African Studies
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Olivia's scholarly +public-facing work

Olivia R. Polk comes to the U from the territories of the Eno, Occaneechi Band of Saponi, Shakori and Tuscarora peoples (Durham, NC). She earned her PhD, M.A. and M.Phil in American Studies and Black Studies from Yale University, and her BA in Africana Studies (with highest honors), Art History, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Williams College. She is currently at work on her first book project, which draws on Black lesbians’ experiments with cultural production, criticism, political organizing, and intimate relationships to make the case for Black Lesbianism as an ethical way of life capable of supporting transformative adaptation to the multiple unfolding crises of our time. In her classrooms, Olivia aims to put students in touch with critical traditions of imagination, analysis, and action that can support their development as self-determining people living in a highly contradictory, yet interdependent world.

Educational Background & Specialties
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Educational Background

  • PhD: American Studies and Black Studies, Yale University
  • MA: American Studies and Black Studies, Yale University
  • M.Phil: American Studies and Black Studies, Yale University
  • BA: Africana Studies (highest honors), Art History, Women Gender & Sexuality Studies, Williams College

Specialties

  • Black feminist thought
  • Black queer and trans studies
  • Black diasporic literature and poetics
  • Social ethics
  • LGBTQ studies
  • Lesbian feminisms
  • Cultural studies