Cord Whitaker

Cord Whitaker is an Associate Professor in the Department of English & Creative Writing at Wellesley College. He specializes in late medieval English literature, the history of race, and the modern afterlives of medievalism, with a focus on religious and cultural conflict in the Middle Ages. His work bridges rigorous academic scholarship with public engagement, and he is actively involved in professional organizations such as the Medievalists of Color and the Modern Language Association.

• B.A., Yale University
• M.A., Duke University
• Ph.D., Duke University

Dr. Whitaker’s research explores the emergence of modern racism from medieval race-thinking, as evidenced in his 2019 book Black Metaphors: How Modern Racism Emerged from Medieval Race-Thinking. He is currently working on a second book, The Harlem Middle Ages: Color, Time, and Harlem Renaissance Medievalism, which investigates intersections between medieval literature and the Harlem Renaissance. His scholarship has appeared in journals like the Journal of English and Germanic Philology and Yearbook of Langland Studies, as well as collections such as Veer Ecology and the Open Access Companion to the Canterbury Tales.

Dr. Whitaker’s teaching spans courses on Chaucer, medieval romance, the history of the English language, and the politics of race. Notable courses include English 213: Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and English 291: What Is Racial Difference?, which examine community, dissent, and difference in medieval contexts and their modern implications. His pedagogy emphasizes accessibility and inclusion, aligning with his public scholarship endeavors.

He actively contributes to public discourse through blogging at In the Middle and co-founding The Spoke, the blog for the Institute for Global Affairs at Wellesley College. His professional service includes roles on the steering committee of the Medievalists of Color and major committees for the Modern Language Association and the Medieval Academy of America.

• Friends member of the School of Historical Studies (2019-2020), Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton
• Fellow at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (2019)