Erica N Richardson

Erica N Richardson serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, Baruch College, City University of New York. Her academic appointments include committee roles on the Weisman Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Alliance and Chair of the Baruch Black Studies Colloquium.

Education:

• Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University
• M.A. in English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University
• B.A. in English and Classical Civilization, Wellesley College

Richardson's research centers on Black feminist thought across historical and contemporary contexts, with primary focus on African American literary culture from the Progressive Era through the Harlem Renaissance. Her work critically examines intersections of race, gender, and economics in Black women's intellectual production, particularly analyzing how Black clubwomen's periodical culture navigated racial capitalism and social data. She extends this inquiry into modern frameworks like autotheory and Black ecologies, investigating transnational connections between ecological oppression and colonial legacies across the African diaspora. Current projects explore alternative economic models in Black communities and embodied belonging through feminist autoassemblages.

Her recent publications reveal a trajectory from historical analysis of Black women's literary activism toward theoretical innovations in Black feminist methodology. The recurring emphasis on counter-narratives of progress, especially through marginalized voices in Harlem Renaissance theater and contemporary autotheory, demonstrates her commitment to redefining knowledge production outside dominant paradigms. Key thematic threads include the material consequences of racial capitalism, the politics of visibility in Black female excellence, and ecological justice in Black futures scholarship.

Scientific Awards:

• Barbara Reich Gluck Teaching Award (2023)
• 2021 Career Enhancement Fellowship for Junior Faculty (Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation)

Richardson actively mentors students through the BRESI program and CUNY's Transformative Learning in the Humanities initiative. Her externally funded research includes five major grants totaling over $45,000 from PSC-CUNY, Eugene Lang College, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. These projects support her 'Empirical Desires' book manuscript and the 'Black Futures' public knowledge project – a collaborative platform featuring scholarly presentations, public syllabi, and student contributions examining Black Ecologies across North America, the Caribbean, and Africa. She has served as Principal Investigator on all current grants, emphasizing community-engaged scholarship that bridges academic research with public discourse on dual pandemics and social justice.