Kameelah L. Martin

Dean, Graduate School

Kameelah L. Martin is dean of the graduate school and professor of African American Studies and English at the College of Charleston. She joined the College in 2017 and assumed the role of dean of the graduate school in 2021.

As dean of the Graduate School of the University of Charleston, S.C., Martin serves as chief administrator and advocate for graduate education. She aims to expand, revise and develop graduate programs that align with the College's mission and serve the community. She follows national and international patterns and initiatives in graduate education and provides leadership and oversight on recruitment, admissions and academic progress, including a focus on increasing diversity and the visibility of graduate education on campus. She collaborates with program directors to implement policies and curriculum changes that improve graduate student retention, degree completion, professional opportunities and overall success.

Martin holds a doctorate in African American literature and folklore from Florida State University, a master's in Afro-American studies from the University of California Los Angeles and a bachelor's in English with an Africana studies minor from Georgia Southern University.

Prior to joining the College, Martin held faculty positions at Georgia State University, the University of Houston and Savannah State University.

Martin's research explores the lore cycle of the conjure woman, or Black priestess, as an archetype in literature and visual texts. Other areas of interest include the evolution of 20th century Black folk heroes, the fiction of Tina McElroy Ansa, Gullah Geechee heritage and culture, African American genealogical research and the writing of family histories.

Martin is the author of a number of works, including "Conjuring Moments in African American Literature: Women, Spirit Work, & Other Such Hoodoo," (Palgrave McMillan, 2013), about how African American authors have shifted, recycled and reinvented the conjure woman figure primarily in twentieth century fiction; "Envisioning Black Feminist Voodoo Aesthetics: African Spirituality in American Cinema," (Lexington, 2016), which explores the priestess figure in American cinema. She co-edited "The Lemonad Reader," an academic look at the work of pop icon Beyoncé (2019).

Martin is a member of the College Language Association, Modern Language Association, National Council for Black Studies, South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora, the Association for the Studey of African American Life and History, the African American Historical and Genealogical Society and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.

Education

2006: Ph.D., African American Literature & Folklore, Florida State University

2003: M.A., Afro-American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

2000: B.A., English, Georgia Southern University

Career Highlights

2021-present: Dean, Graduate School of the University of Charleston, S.C., College of Charleston

2017-present: Professor, African American Studies & English, College of Charleston

2017-2021: Director, African American Studies, College of Charleston

2017-2020: Graduate Faculty Appointment, University of Alabama

2016-2017: Director, Honors Program, and Associate Professor, Dept. of English, Languages, & Cultures, Savannah State University

2015-2020: Book Review Editor (2015-2017) and Assistant Editor (2019-2020), College Language Association Journal

2013-2016: Assistant Professor, Dept. of English, Languages, & Cultures, Savannah State University

2011-2013: Visiting Scholar, Center for the Study of African American Culture, University of Houston

2006-2011: Assistant Professor, Dept. of English, Georgia State University

2003-2006: Graduate Teaching Assistant, Dept. of English, Florida State University

Honors and Achievements

2018: College of Charleston Faculty Research & Development Award

2017: College Language Association Book Award for Creative Scholarship

2017: Summer Scholar, National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute on “Recognizing an Imperfect Past: History, Memory, & the American Public,” Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Ga.

2017-18: University of Michigan Institute for Research on Women & Gender, Feminist Research Seminar Grant, 2017-18

2016: Savannah State University President's Faculty Development Mini-grant Initiative

2015-16: Fulbright-Hays Participant, U.S. Dept. of Education Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (Ghana)

2014-15: Georgia Southern University Alumni Association 40 Under 40 Alumni Award

2013: University of Houston African American Studies Program Faculty Development Grant

2013: University of Houston African American Studies Program Faculty Travel Award

2012: Summer Scholar, National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute on Contemporary African American Literature, Pennsylvania State U., State College, Pa.

2012: University of Houston African American Studies Program Faculty Travel Award

2011: Georgia State University Dept. of English Summer Research Enhancement Grant

2009-10: National Council for Black Studies Cutting-Edge Gender Research Grant

2009: Georgia State University Writing Across the Curriculum Intensive Writing Course Development Grant

2008: "Critical Approaches to Teaching African American Literature." Co-sponsorship for the Georgia Humanities Council Conversations among Partners in Learning Program

2007-08: Georgia State University Research Initiation Grant

2007: Georgia State University Dept. of English Summer Research Enhancement Grant

2006-07: Florida State University Dept. of English J. Russell Reaver Award for Outstanding Dissertation in American Literature or Folklore

2004-05: Florida State University Dept. of English George Harper Award for Outstanding Graduate Critical Writing

2005: National Council for Black Studies Graduate Student Essay Contest, Second Place

2004: Ford Foundation Pre-doctoral Fellowships for Minorities Alternate/Hon. Mention

2003: National Council for Black Studies Graduate Student Essay Contest, Second Place

2002-03: UCLA Center for African American Studies Archive Mentorship Fellowship

2001-02: UCLA Graduate Opportunity Fellowship