Teaching transnational Morrison: curation and comparative American studies

ABSTRACT This article is the edited text of a talk given in May 2021 for the AHRC-funded Black Female Intellectuals network. It argues that through comparative, transnational work American Studies scholars can widen the definition of who is considered a Black Female Intellectual first in terms of what we understand to be public intellectual work and also in terms of who American Studies scholars recognise as Black. I explore the act of curation as an act of public intellectualism by looking closely at exhibitions curated by African American writer Toni Morrison and Aboriginal Australian artist Fiona Foley. I then discuss Foley’s work as a ‘Blak’ Female Intellectual and argue that as such, her work should be engaged with and taught within transnational, comparative American Studies classrooms.