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Nadia Ellis specializes in black diasporic, Caribbean, and postcolonial literatures and cultures. Her book, 'Territories of the Soul: Queered Belonging in the Black Diaspora' (Duke, 2015), explores forms of black belonging animated by queer utopian desire and diasporic aesthetics. This project is built on her long-standing interest in the trajectories of literary cultures in the Caribbean, Britain, and the United States. Her work has developed a preoccupation with the intersections of queerness, diaspora, imperial identification, colonial resistance, and performance theory. Published essays delve into queer black performance, the sexuality archive, and popular music, notably Jamaican dancehall. Ellis has received fellowships and grants from research bodies including AAUW, SSRC, and UC Berkeley's Hellman Fund and Townsend Center for the Humanities. She teaches courses across various topics, often connecting literary cultures with issues of city, migration, and sexuality. Recognized for her teaching excellence, she received the University’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2020 and the American Cultures Innovation Teaching Award in 2016.
University of California, Berkeley • Berkeley, CA
Director of Graduate Studies, specializing in black diasporic, Caribbean, and postcolonial literatures.
The Mathematics Subject GRE is required for the Fall 2026 admissions cycle. General GRE is optional.