E. Patrick Johnson
Encyclopedia
E. Patrick Johnson is an African American
performance artist, ethnographer, and scholar.
, and queer theory
(especially queer of color critique). He is currently Chair of the Department of Performance Studies at Northwestern University
, where he is also a member of the core faculty in the Department of African American Studies
. Before going to Northwestern, Johnson was an Assistant Professor of English at Amherst College
in Amherst, Massachusetts
. As a performance artist, Johnson has toured his one-man show, Strange Fruit, around the United States since 1999. He will perform his oral history and published book, "Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South" as part of About Face Theatre's 2009-2010 season.
and sexuality
. The book won several awards, including the Lilla A. Heston Award, the Errol Hill Book Award, and was a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. His co-edited book Black Queer Studies: A Critical Anthology was an important collection of essays by prominent scholars in African American and Queer studies
, based on a conference Johnson co-organized at the University of Chapel Hill in 2000. His most recent work is an oral history of black gay men in the southern United States
entitled Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South, published by the University of North Carolina Press
.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
performance artist, ethnographer, and scholar.
Contributions
Johnson has made important contributions in the fields of performance studies, critical race theoryCritical race theory
Critical Race Theory is an academic discipline focused upon the intersection of race, law and power.Although no set of canonical doctrines or methodologies defines CRT, the movement is loosely unified by two common areas of inquiry...
, and queer theory
Queer theory
Queer theory is a field of critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of LGBT studies and feminist studies. Queer theory includes both queer readings of texts and the theorisation of 'queerness' itself...
(especially queer of color critique). He is currently Chair of the Department of Performance Studies at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, where he is also a member of the core faculty in the Department of African American Studies
African American studies
African American studies is a subset of Black studies or Africana studies. It is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the history, culture, and politics of African Americans...
. Before going to Northwestern, Johnson was an Assistant Professor of English at Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
in Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...
. As a performance artist, Johnson has toured his one-man show, Strange Fruit, around the United States since 1999. He will perform his oral history and published book, "Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South" as part of About Face Theatre's 2009-2010 season.
Books
Johnson's first book, Appropriating Blackness: Performance and the Politics of Authenticity was an important study of how "blackness" was "performed" and contested in different social contexts, particularly in relationship to genderGender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
and sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
. The book won several awards, including the Lilla A. Heston Award, the Errol Hill Book Award, and was a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. His co-edited book Black Queer Studies: A Critical Anthology was an important collection of essays by prominent scholars in African American and Queer studies
Queer studies
Queer studies is the critical theory based study of issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people and cultures. Universities have also labeled this area of analysis Sexual Diversity Studies, Sexualities...
, based on a conference Johnson co-organized at the University of Chapel Hill in 2000. His most recent work is an oral history of black gay men in the southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
entitled Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South, published by the University of North Carolina Press
University of North Carolina Press
The University of North Carolina Press , founded in 1922, is a university press that is part of the University of North Carolina....
.