RJ Boutelle

RJ Boutelle is an Associate Professor of English with affiliate appointments in Africana Studies and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. He is the author of The Race for America: Black Internationalism in the Age of Manifest Destiny (UNC Press, 2023), a finalist for the 2024 Pauli Murray Book Prize in Black Intellectual History. His teaching focuses on African American literature and 19th-century U.S. literature.

Education:

• PhD in English, Vanderbilt University (2016)
• MA in English, Vanderbilt University (2012)
• BA in English, University of Massachusetts - Amherst (2009)
• BA in Philosophy and Spanish, University of Massachusetts - Amherst (2009)

His research explores transnational approaches to African American literature and 19th-century U.S. literature, emphasizing racial, national, and transnational identities in the Black diaspora. Key themes include Black internationalism, colonial resistance, and the geopolitical reshaping of the Americas.

The 15 most recent articles and publications focus on topics such as Black diaspora narratives, transatlantic slavery, Haitian Revolution literature, and the intersection of race and empire. These works span from 2012 to 2024, reflecting his ongoing engagement with transnational Black politics and literary analysis.

Scientific Awards:

• 2024 Finalist, Pauli Murray Book Prize in Black Intellectual History

Boutelle's work bridges historical and literary analysis, examining how African Americans reappropriated expansionist rhetoric to assert agency in debates over Manifest Destiny and colonialism.