CV
Shanté Paradigm Smalls
PO Box 7125, Davidson, NC 28035
P: 704.894.2504 • F: 704.894.2881 •
Email: ShSmalls AT Davidson DOT edu
EDUCATION
New York University
Ph.D. Department of Performance Studies, 2011
M.A. Performance Studies, Gallatin School of Individualized Studies, 2005
Smith College
B.A. Department of English Languages and Literature; Theatre department, 1998
ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Assistant Professor, Department of American Studies, 2013-
New York University, New York, NY
Visiting Assistant Professor, Performance Studies, Summer 2013
Davidson College, Davidson, NC
Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow & Visiting Assistant Professor, English Department; Affiliated Faculty, Gender and Sexuality Studies, 2011-2013
Boston College, Boston, MA
Adjunct Assistant Professor, African & African Diaspora Studies Program, 2011 (declined)
Pace University, New York, NY
Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, 2009-2010
New York University, New York, NY
Lecturer, Department of Performance Studies, 2008-2010
PUBLICATIONS
Book Manuscripts
Hip Hop Heresies: Queer Interraciality in New York City, 1975-2005 (under review, New York University Press; Postmillenial Pop Series, Eds. Karen Tongson & Henry Jenkins)
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
“Eating Popcorn with Chopsticks: Revisionary Black Masculinityin Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon” (under review)
“The Rain Comes Down: Jean Grae and Hip Hop Heteronormativity,” American Behavioral Scientist, 55:1, (January): 86-95, 2011
“They Call Me, ‘Starfucker’,” Suspect Thoughts: A Journal of Subversive Writing, (July-December), Suspect Thoughts Press, Issue 19, 2007
Book Chapters
2013 “Queer Hip Hop: A Brief Historiography,” The Oxford Handbook of Queerness and Music, Eds. Fred Maus and Sheila Whitely, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press (forthcoming)
Edited Peer-Reviewed Journals
2014 Co-editor with Jessica N. Pabón, “All Hail the Queenz: A Queer Feminist Recalibration of Hip Hop,” Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory, New York and London: Routledge
Encyclopedia Essays
2007 “W.H. Auden,” Encyclopedia of Modern Drama, Eds. Gabrielle H. Cody and Every Sprinchorn, New York: Columbia University Press, 70-71
“J.M. Barrie,” Encyclopedia of Modern Drama, Eds. Gabrielle H. Cody and Every Sprinchorn, New York: Columbia University Press, 123-124
“John Galsworthy,” Encyclopedia of Modern Drama, Eds. Gabrielle H. Cody and Every Sprinchorn, New York: Columbia University Press, 503-504
“Harley Granville-Barker,” Encyclopedia of Modern Drama, Eds. Gabrielle H. Cody and Every Sprinchorn, New York: Columbia University Press, 548
“Christopher Isherwood,” Encyclopedia of Modern Drama, Eds. Gabrielle H. Cody and Every Sprinchorn, New York: Columbia University Press, 708
“Lynn Nottage,” Encyclopedia of Modern Drama, Eds. Gabrielle H. Cody and Every Sprinchorn, New York: Columbia University Press, 978-979
ACADEMIC FELLOWSHIPS, HONORS & AWARDS
2013 Psychoanalytic Mentor Program, American Psychoanalytic Association
2012 Semi-finalist, American Psychoanalytic Association Fellowship Program
2011-2013 Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship, Davidson College
2005-2009 Corrigan Doctoral Fellowship, New York University
2005 Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Travel Grant, New York University
2005 Vaid/Paras Gay Consciousness Award, New York University
2005 Dean’s MA Research Scholarship, New York University
2005 Chancellor’s Doctoral Fellowship, The Graduate Center, CUNY (declined)
2004 William and Pearl C. Helbein Scholarship, New York University
2003 Dean’s MA Scholarship, New York University
1998 Yvonne Sarah Bernhardt Buerger Prize in Theatre, Smith College
1996-1998 Dean’s List, Smith College
INVITED TALKS
2013 “Hip Hop Weirdness/Queerness: Embodiment, Theory, Praxis,” Women’s and Gender Studies Research, Development and Advancement colloquium, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, February 4
2012 “Secret Asian Man: Martin Wong’s Archive and New York City Early Hip Hop’s Interraciality,” Department of American Studies, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, February 13
“Youth, Popular Culture, and Schooling,” Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, February 16
“Queer Hip Hop,” Department of Communication, St. Mary’s College of California, Moraga, CA, January 24
2011 “Hip Hop, Identity, and Heteronormativity,” Department of English, Norwalk Community College, Norwalk, CT, April 23
“Blasians: Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon and NYC Hip Hop’s Afro-Asian Life,” Department of English, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, April 12
“Bl/Asian: Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon and the Construction of Afro-Asian Masculinity,” Department of English, Davidson College, Davidson, NC, February 3
2010 “The Rise of Queer Hip Hop and Pick Up the Mic,” Hip Hop Symposium, Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues, Dickinson College, Dickinson, PA, Keynote Speaker & Performer, April 8 & 9
2007 “Hip Hop, Misogyny, and Homophobia,” Black History Month Symposium, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, February
2006 “Hip Hop and Feminine Performance,” Department of Drama, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, March 7
2005 “Language, Vulnerable Bodies, and Hip Hop Culture,” INCITE! The Color of Violence Conference III, New Orleans, LA, Talk/Oral Presentation, March
“Bodies, Language, and Performance in Pop Culture,” English Department, Hunter College, New York, NY, March
SELECTED SCHOLARLY PRESENTATIONS & PAPERS
Panels Organized
2014 Co-organized with Larry La Fountain and Melissa Gonzalez “Wild/Queer/Vulnerable,” GL/Q Caucus for the Modern Languages (Guaranteed Session), Modern Languages Association (MLA), Chicago, IL, Respondent, January 9-12
2013 “Hard Knock Life”: The Queer Aesthetic Trespass of Jay-Z,” Genealogies of Hip Hop Aesthetics: Chopped and Screwed, Nicki Minaj, and Jay-Z, Performance Studies International (PSi), Stanford University, Stanford, CA, Oral Presentation/Refereed Paper, June 26-30
“Black Death, Black Life: Queer Female Vampires in SF,” ‘All Black Everything’: Speculative Futures of Blackness in Literature, Film, and Performance, Modern Languages Association (MLA), Boston, MA, Oral Presentation/Refereed Paper, January 3-6
2012 “‘Voices Carry’: Queer Dissonance and the Travel of NYC 1980s Hip-Hop Sound,” ‘Beat Street’: New York City Hip-Hop Sound Discourses from 1980 to the Present, EMP Pop Conference (EMP), New York University, New York, NY, Oral Presentation/Refereed
Paper, March 22-25
“‘Make the Music with Your Mouth’: Sonic Subjectivity and Post-Modern Identity Formations in Beatboxing,” The 5th Element of Beatboxing and the American Human Beatbox Festival, Show and Prove Hip Hop Conference, New York University, New York, NY, Oral Presentation/Refereed Paper, March 31
“Martin Wong’s Queer Visuality,” Secret Asian Man: Martin Wong’s Influence on 1980s New York City Subcultures, Modern Languages Association (MLA), Seattle, WA, Talk/Oral Presentation, Refereed Paper, January 5-8
Papers Presented
2013 “The New Black is the Old Black: Hip Hop Culture, Production, and Studies in the Age of Black Authenticity and Post-Blackness,” Whose Knowledge? Whose Interest?: Authenticity and the Politics of Knowledge, Critical Ethnic Studies Association (CESA), University of Illinois-Chicago, Chicago, IL, Oral Presentation/Refereed Paper, September 19-21
2012 “Queer Dissonance: The Art of Queer Hip Hop Music,” The Queerness of Hip Hop/The Hip Hop of Queerness, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Oral Presentation/Refereed Paper, September 21
Performing History, Expanding Race: Afro-Asian and Arab-Asian Hip Hop, Film and Spoken Word, Association of Asian American Studies (AAAS), Washington, DC, Oral Presentation/Refereed Paper, April 11-15
“‘Homeless Hotspots’: Marketing the Abject Body,” Narrative session, Winning the Crisis Symposium, Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University, New York, NY, Invited Speaker/Panelist, March 21-22
“Queer Hip Hop Diasporas: A (Brief) History,” Theorizing Hip Hop, Modern Languages Association (MLA), Seattle WA, Talk/Oral Presentation, Refereed Paper, January 5-8
2006 “Music as Performance: Emergent Scholar Panel,” Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), Chicago, IL, Talk/Oral Presentation, Refereed Paper, August 1-6
“Sounding (Off) Like a Boy: Jean Grae and Masculine Performance,” Hip Hop Symposium, Yale University, New Haven, CT, Talk/Oral Presentation, Refereed Paper, March
Discussant and Chair
2013 “Black/Camp: Disrupting Black Aesthetics,” American Studies Association (ASA), Washington, DC, Chair and Respondent, November 21-24
2011 “Queering the College Campus,” Berkshire Conference on the History of Women (BERKS), UMASS-Amherst, Amherst, MA, Discussant/Respondent, June 9-12
2010 “Show and Prove: The Tensions, Contradictions and Possibilities of Hip Hop Studies in Practice,” Performance Studies, New York University, New York, NY, Chair and Discussant, September 19-20
2005 One Love: Prejudice and Homophobia in Jamaica, New York University, New York, NY, Moderator, January 24
CAMPUS & DEPARTMENTAL TALKS
2012 “The Kindred Discussion: The (New) Black Aesthetic,” Black Student Coalition & Department of Art, Davidson College, Davidson, NC, February 5
2011 “Becoming an Artist,” Public Lecture Series, Davidson College, November 4
“James Baldwin: The Price of a Ticket,” Reel Queer Film Series, New York University, NY, NY, February 9
2010 “Queer Hip Hop Music and its Scholarship,” Department of Performance Studies, New York, NY, December 3
2008 “The Doing of The Deadly Art of Survival,” Colloquium for Unpopular Culture, Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University, NY, March 4
“A Hegemonic Shift: The New Politics of Black Performance,” Performance Studies
Symposium, Department of Performance Studies, New York University, New York, NY, February 28
SYMPOSIA, WORKSHOP & SPEAKER ORGANIZING
2012-2013 “Unruly Politics of Social Justice” Speaker Series, featuring Mark Rifkin, William Perez, Deb Willis, and Kevin Quashie, Davidson College, Davidson, NC
September-November 2012 “Hip Hop Guest Artist-Scholar” Series, featuring DJ Whole Wheat, Imani Kai Johnson, Jessica Pabón, Kid Lucky & Kaila, and Mz. Jonz & F.I.T.T., Davidson College, Davidson, NC
2011 Producer, “Queer Communities, Queer Critiques: Artists at the Intersection of Gender, Race, and Sexuality,” featuring William Brandon Lacy Campos and Sophia Wallace, Davidson College, October 25
2006 Peace Out East LGBT Hip Hop Festival, Hip Hop and Scholarship, New York University, NY, NY Curator, Performer, Panelist, October 11-15 (festival organizer)
COURSES TAUGHT
University of New Mexico, American Studies Department
Introduction to Gender Studies
Hip Hop, Race, and Gender
Davidson College
Hip Hop, Gender, and Sexuality, English Department
Race & Speculation, English Department
Queer Theory, Queer Popular Culture, Writing Program
Reading/Writing Queer Cultures, Writing Program
New York University, Department of Performance Studies
Introduction to Performance Studies
MA Thesis: Performative Writing
Pace University (NYC), Women & Gender Studies Department
Gender, Race, and Class (2010, 2009)
THESIS COMMITTEES
2013 Reader, Lukmon Babajide, Department of Sociology, Davidson College
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
2013-2014 Secretary, GL/Q Caucus, Modern Languages Association (MLA)
2012-2013 Committee Member, Crompton-Noll Prize Committee, GL/Q Caucus, MLA
2011-2013 Reviewer, American Music
2010 Reviewer, Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory
INSTITUTIONAL SERVICE
2012-2013 Ethnic Studies Working Group, Davidson College
2011-2012 Africana Studies Program Faculty Working Group, Davidson College
2011-2013 Gender and Sexuality Studies Working Group, Davidson College
2011-2012 LGBTQ Faculty Working Group, Davidson College
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Association for Asian American Studies, 2011-present
International Association for the Study of Popular Music, 2011-present
American Studies Association, 2009-present
Black Performance Theory Working Group, 2007-present
Modern Languages Association, 2005-present
American Musicological Society, 2008-2010
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Psychoanalytic Mentor Program, American Psychoanalytic Association, 2013, Mentor: Esther Raskin, University of Utah
ACS Summer Teaching & Learning Workshop, Trinity University, 2012
Davidson College Writing Faculty Workshop, 2012
#THATCamp Piedmont: The Humanities and Technology Camp, 2012
FILM & TELVISION APPEARANCES/PRODUCTION
Don’t Look Away (Featured Artist)—2012 Emmy Award Winner, 2011
Pick Up the Mic (Featured Artist), 2005
The Ski Trip (First Assistant Director, Dramaturg), 2004
Totally Gay, VH1 (Featured Artist), 2003
SELECTED LIVE PERFORMANCES
Davidson College Literary Series, Davidson College, November 2011
Meditation on a Theme Poetry Series, NY, NY, June 2011
Show and Prove, New York University, September 2010
Hip Hop in Action, Dickinson College, April 2010
Requiem for W, Overture for O, Brooklyn, NY, January 2009
Rivers of Honey, WOW Café, NY, NY, September 2008
Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, Brooklyn, NY, August 2008
Cattyshack, Brooklyn, NY, January 2008
Toronto Pride, Toronto, Canada, July 2007
Peace Out East, Brooklyn, NY, October 2006
Toronto Film Festival, Toronto, Canada, September 2005
Peace Out East, Nuyorican Poets Café, NY, NY, July 2005
MUSIC & MUSIC CONFERENCE PRODUCTION
2014 Writer/co-producer, Parapraxes (in production)
2005-2007 Co-producer; Writer, The Digm and the Dutch, Phat Family Records, NY, NY
2004-2007 Curator/Producer, Peace Out East LGBT Hip Hop Festival, July/October, NY, NY
2003 Co-curator/Producer, Word:Life-Emcees and Poets in Da Life series, Brooklyn/NY, NY
2003 Co-producer, Writer, B.Q.E.-The EP, Phat Family Records, Brooklyn, NY
