A Hard Look at History
Colin Walker Wingate is pursuing a major in English and a minor in gender, women, & sexuality studies (GWSS). He considers gender, sexuality, and capitalism in his studies and research as a Black feminist. Wingate presented two research projects at the National Women’s Studies Association Conference in 2018.
The first project explores ideas about the ghosts of people who died on slave ships or were thrown overboard. Wingate describes “hauntology” as a tradition of thought that deals with ghosts and haunting not solely as supernatural, but as part of the discourse of historical traumas that demand we view violence beyond the boundaries of the past and the present, or of the living and the dead.
His second project looks at the perception of Black women as rebellious or unruly in a Eurocentric society. “After graduating in 2019, I plan to further my knowledge of Black studies and GWSS in graduate school. My professors, including Zenzele Isoke, Diyah Larasati, Richa Nagar, and Alexis Gumbs, have inspired me to pursue a doctorate in feminist studies,” Wingate says. “I hope to become a professor to teach, do research, and affect students’ lives the way my professors have affected mine.”