Stefanie K. Dunning

Stefanie K. Dunning is a Professor of Black Studies and English at the University of Rochester, and Director of the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies. She holds a BA from Spelman College and a PhD in English from the University of California, Riverside. Her research spans African American literature, speculative fiction, Black ecologies, queer theory, film, and Black feminist theory. Notable works include Queer in Black and White (2009) and Black to Nature (2021), alongside a forthcoming book Other/World(ly): A Black Ecology of Outer Space (2024). Dunning has received awards such as the Ford Foundation Fellowship and the African American Review’s Best Essay Prize (2005). She produces the podcast Black to Nature, exploring intersections of ecology and Black cultural expression.

Her academic contributions include teaching awards at Miami University of Ohio and co-fellowship in their Humanities Center program on Race and Racism. Dunning’s work bridges literary analysis with social justice, examining themes like Afrofuturism, queer ecologies, and Black temporalities. She has published widely in journals like MELUS, African American Review, and Studies in the Fantastic, and her interdisciplinary approach integrates film, visual culture, and speculative fiction.