Oral history interview with Marcellus Blount, 2015

Biographical Note

Marcellus Blount has taught at Columbia since 1985, where he teaches American and African-American literary and cultural studies. He has held fellowships at the Carter G. Woodson Institute at University of Virginia, the University of Pennsylvania where he was a Rockefeller Fellow, and Harvard University at the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute. More recently he was the Sterling Brown '22 Visiting Professor of English at Williams College. His articles have appeared in a range of journals, including PMLA and Callaloo. He co-edited Representing Black Menand, more recently, has completed "Listening for My Name: African American Men and the Politics of Friendship." His current project is a study of issues related to race and marriage equality

Scope and Contents

In this interview, Marcellus Blount describes his cultural upbringing in New York City, detailing his experience with segregation in high school and his decision to attend Williams College. Blount goes on to discuss his exposure to African American literature at Williams, citing Melvin Dixon as a mentor. Blount provides an account of his graduate work in American Studies at Yale University, and his addition to the faculty of Columbia University in 1985, serving as one of Columbia's five African-American professors at the time. Blount discusses his experiences of marginalization and the strategies he has used to overcome structural obstacles, including his development of alliances with feminist scholars within the English department. Blount names colleagues Susan Winnett and Carolyn Heilbrun as early allies. Blount discusses his longstanding advocacy for a more inclusive Columbia Core Curriculum, including his 30 year petition in favor of adding Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man to the syllabus. Blount talks about his 1987 arrest during a campus protest demanding resources for African-American students. He recalls his emotions at the time, how it affected his work, and the University's response to the incident. Following this incident, Columbia established lines in African-American Studies and created the Intercultural Resource Center. Additionally, Blount describes how the African-American Studies Department and the Institute for Research in African-American Studies (IRAAS) were founded. Blount describes the early community ties, conventions, panels, and successes of IRAAS. He discusses his engagement with IRWGS and sexuality studies more broadly, especially in reference to his personal identity. Blount explains how his experience with IRWGS has forced him to deconstruct his masculinist training and describes his book Representing Black Men. Blount reflects on his involvement in community organizations such as the Audre Lorde Project and the Gay Men's Health Crisis. Blount defines the HIV/AIDS crisis as the bridge between his activism and scholarship.

Subjects

• AIDS (Disease)--United States--History.
• African Americans--Study and teaching.
• Blount, Marcellus--Interviews.
• College teachers--Interviews.
• Columbia University. Institute for Research in African-American Studies.
• Columbia University. Institute for Research on Women and Gender.
• Discrimination in higher education.
• Dziedzic, Sarah, interviewer.
• Feminism and higher education--United States.
• Feminist theory.
• Interviews.
• Oral histories (literary works)

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, 2015