Kimberly Blockett

Kimberly Blockett is Professor of Africana Studies and Department Chair at the University of Delaware’s College of Arts & Sciences. She is a leading scholar in African American literature and cultural studies, with a focus on 19th-century Black women’s religious narratives.

Her research centers on the life and travels of Zilpha Elaw, a Black female evangelist whose work challenges conventional understandings of race, gender, and religion in the 19th century. Supported by fellowships from Harvard, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ford Foundation, and the Smithsonian, her interdisciplinary work bridges literary history, theology, and cultural studies.

She has published two major works: Race, Religion and Rebellion in the Nineteenth-Century Travels of Zilpha Elaw, Black Woman Evangelist (Duke University Press, 2023) and a scholarly edition of Elaw’s memoirs (West Virginia University Press, 2021). Her essays appear in Cambridge History of African American Literature, MLA Approaches to Teaching Hurston, MELUS, African American Review, Legacy, and Nineteenth-Century American Women Writers and Theologies of the Afterlife.

Her notable awards include:

• Fellowship from Harvard
• National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Fellowship
• Ford Foundation Fellowship
• Smithsonian Fellowship

Blockett earned her Ph.D. in English with a graduate minor in African Literature from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Prior to joining the University of Delaware, she taught at Pennsylvania State University, Swarthmore College, University of Pennsylvania, and UW–Madison. She has extensive administrative experience, including five years as a campus Honors Program coordinator and eight years in the University Faculty Senate at Penn State, where she served as chair-elect and liaison to multiple high-level committees, including the Board of Trustees Committee on Academic Affairs, Research, and Student Life, and advisory committees for the vice provost for faculty affairs.

She teaches courses in literary theory, African American literature, cultural studies, and women’s studies. As Department Chair, she leads academic and administrative initiatives within Africana Studies, including the MA program, 4+1 BA/MA track, and certificate offerings. She is also involved in organizing key events such as the Black Table Talks, James E. Newton Symposium, and Fannie Lou Hamer Annual Lecture.