معرفی
Mason Stokes serves as Professor and Class of 1948 Chair for Excellence in Teaching in Skidmore College's English Department, where he has established himself as a leading scholar at the intersection of African-American literature, queer theory, and American cultural studies since joining the faculty.
His educational foundation includes a B.A. from the University of South Carolina and M.A./Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, forming the basis for his interdisciplinary approach to literary criticism and creative writing.
Stokes' research critically examines how race, sexuality, and power operate within American literary traditions, with particular focus on heterosexuality's relationship to white supremacy, queer identity formation, and African-American cultural production. His work consistently bridges historical analysis with contemporary relevance, exploring how literary narratives shape societal understandings of identity and difference through frameworks like whiteness studies, desire theory, and intersectional analysis.
His publications reveal a distinctive trajectory from scholarly monographs to creative writing, with recent works like All the Truth I Can Stand (2024) extending his critical perspectives into young adult fiction while maintaining rigorous engagement with themes of race and LGBTQ+ identity.
- Class of 1948 Chair for Excellence in Teaching
- Inclusion in Best American Essays 2016 for "Namesake"
As an educator, Stokes mentors students through foundational courses like EN 110: Introduction to Literary Studies and specialized seminars including EN 338: Queer Fictions and EN 327: Twentieth-Century African-American Novels. His nationally recognized op-eds in The Chronicle of Higher Education demonstrate his commitment to public scholarship on trigger warnings and academic freedom, reflecting his belief in education's transformative potential despite institutional constraints. Departmental leadership roles and consistent publication output indicate sustained scholarly productivity within Skidmore's academic community.
Stokes remains an active contributor to Skidmore's English Department through course development, participation in Salmagundi literary journal initiatives, and engagement with the Golden Fellows Program, maintaining strong connections with both current students and alumni networks.
