Jordache A. Ellapen

Jordache A. Ellapen is an Associate Professor of Black Studies, specializing in visual and performance art cultures of Africa and the African Diaspora. His research focuses on blackness, Afro-Indian relationalities, and feminist/queer studies in post-apartheid South Africa. He holds a PhD in American Studies from Indiana University, with minors in Visual Culture Studies, and advanced degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand and New York University.

• Bachelor of Arts and MA in Dramatic Art (University of the Witwatersrand)
• MA in Cinema Studies (New York University)
• PhD in American Studies (Indiana University)

His research interrogates how visual and performance art challenge racial hierarchies, with a focus on women and LGBTIQ+ artists. Current projects explore the intersection of pleasure and black freedom in decolonial politics. He is the author of Indenture Aesthetics (2025), which reimagines Black Consciousness through a queer African framework.

Awarded the Feminist Studies Journal Claire G. Moses Award (2022) and Queer African Studies Association Award (2022), Ellapen’s work spans journals like Feminist Studies and Journal for African Cultural Studies. He curates The Pleasure Project and has received fellowships from institutions including the Ford Foundation and the University of Toronto.