Associate Professor
Department of English
Language and Literature
277 Lake Huron Hall
(616) 331-2385
[email protected]
Sherry Johnson
Courses
ENG 216 Foundations of Literary Study: Critical Approaches
ENG 231 Early African American Literature
ENG 232 Modern African American Literature
ENG 335 Literature of American Minorities
ENG 337 Black Contemporary Literature
ENG 440 Studies in Major Authors
ENG 495 Language and Literature (Capstone)
Research Interests
Dr. Sherry Johnson tells stories that engage memory and Black writing between Canada and the United States. She is a writer, researcher, and scholar of literature, particularly at the intersection of Black women's lives and their writing, African American visual culture, and the digital humanities. Currently an associate professor, Dr. Johnson teaches courses in African American literature, Multicultural American literature, neo-slave narratives, and critical approaches to literary study.
Recent Publications
Monographs
Porous Borders: Contours of Black Writing Between Canada and the USA
[Proposal Under Consideration]
Companion to Nineteenth-Century African American Literature. McFarland Publishing, 2025.
[Under contract]
Book Chapters
“Self-care and Sanctuary in Black Women’s Salons.” Trauma, Tresses and Truth, edited by Lyzette Wanzer, Chicago Review Press, 2022.
“Resisting Black-Lack Readings of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man.” Approaches to Teaching the Works of Ralph Ellison, edited by Tracy Floreani, Modern Language Association of America, 2023. (Work in Press)
Public Scholarship
Essays
“Self-Revision as Praxis.” “Black Women’s Biography Roundtable,” edited by Tanisha Ford and Ashley Farmer, Black Perspectives, African American Intellectual History Society, 2022.
Book Reviews
Rev. of Geographies of African American Short Fiction by Kenton Rambsy. Resources for American Literary Study. (2022) 44 (1-2): 379-85.
Education
B.A. Honors, York University
BEd., York University
Teaching Certification, Ontario College of Teachers
M.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ph.D, University of Wisconsin-Madison