Richard Yarborough

Richard Yarborough is Professor Emeritus of English and African American Studies at UCLA, where he teaches African American literature and 19th-20th century American fiction. He previously directed UCLA's Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies and chaired the Interdepartmental Program in Afro-American Studies.

Education includes: PhD in English and American Literature from Stanford University (1980) and BA in English from Michigan State University (1973). His research examines representations of race in American literature and film, focusing on African American literary traditions before WWII, racial politics, and masculinity.

Publications include scholarly editions of works by Harriet Jacobs and Richard Wright, with research emphasizing racial violence in turn-of-the-century novels and masculinity in Frederick Douglass's writings. Recent articles analyze James David Corrothers and Ernest J. Gaines.

Awards include the inaugural Richard Yarborough Award in Mentoring (American Studies Association, 2012), UCLA Academic Senate Diversity Award (2014), and Distinguished Teaching Award (1987). Editorial roles include Associate General Editor for the Heath Anthology of American Literature and General Editor of the Library of Black Literature series.

Current research explores racial representation in science fiction film and African American detective fiction. Graduate supervision focuses on African American literary traditions and multiculturalism.