Sheldon George

Sheldon George is Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he joined the faculty in 2024. He holds a Ph.D. in English from Boston College and previously served in academic leadership roles including Director of Graduate English, Department Chair of Literature & Writing, and Director of General Education at prior institutions.

His research focuses on African American literature, Lacanian psychoanalytic theory, race studies, diasporic Black women writers, and narrative theory. George examines how racial identity intersects with trauma, subjectivity, and social structures through literary and theoretical frameworks. His work bridges psychoanalytic theory with critical race studies, exploring themes of racial violence, identity formation, and cultural representation.

George has published extensively on racial trauma and psychoanalytic approaches to race, with recent works exploring Christian nationalism, whiteness studies, and narrative innovations in global Black women's writing. His scholarship demonstrates consistent engagement with Toni Morrison's oeuvre, Lacanian theory applications to race, and contemporary racial discourse.

He serves as Associate Editor of Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society and recently chaired the MLA Executive Committee for Psychology, Psychoanalysis and Literature. George has received teaching awards at both graduate and undergraduate levels for his academic instruction.