Trimiko Melancon

Trimiko Melancon is a Professor of African American and African Studies at Michigan State University (MSU), affiliated with the College of Arts and Letters. Her expertise spans race, gender, Black feminist and sexualities studies, African American literary and cultural studies, Black German studies, and media/digital production. She holds distinguished visiting positions at Tulane University’s Anna Julia Cooper Project and Emory University’s James Weldon Johnson Institute. A Fulbright Scholar and recipient of multiple fellowships (Mellon, Woodrow Wilson), her work bridges academia and public scholarship.

Research Interests: Melancon’s scholarship critiques intersectional dynamics of race, gender, and sexuality. Her award-winning book *Unbought and Unbossed* examines transgressive Black women’s representations, while her co-edited *Black Female Sexualities* redefines discourses on Black women’s agency. Her work engages digital humanities, film, and contemporary social movements like Black Lives Matter.

Awards & Fellowships:

• College Language Association Book Award
• Best Feature Documentary Audience Award (2020)
• Fulbright Scholar (Berlin, Germany)
• Andrew W. Mellon/Mellon Mays Fellow

Media & Filmmaking: As a documentary filmmaker, she directed *What Do You Have to Lose?* (2020), exploring racial politics post-Trump and BLM, and *1955* on Claudette Colvin. Her media commentaries appear in HuffPost, BBC, NBC, and *The Black Scholar*.

Grants & Support: Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon, Nellie Mae, Ford, and Ruth Landes/Reed Foundations, her interdisciplinary work addresses racial justice through literature, media, and public scholarship.