Sara Johnson 
Associate Professor of Literature | UC San Diego
San Diego, CA, UNITED STATES
Sara Johnson focuses on literature, theory and history of the Hispanophone, Francophone and Anglophone Caribbean and its diasporas.
Media
Publications:
Documents:
Photos:
Videos:
Audio/Podcasts:
Biography
Associate Professor of Literature of the Americas, Sara Johnson received their Ph.D. in comparative literature from Stanford University and their B.A. from Yale University in comparative literature and African American studies.
Johnson is currently working on a book documenting the work of Moreau de Saint-Méry, a late 18th century Caribbean intellectual. They have performed extensive research abroad, living in Senegal, Cuba, Haiti and Martinique. Recent fellowships include those from the Ford Foundation, the University of California President’s Postdoctoral Program, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Hellman Fund, the UC Consortium for Black Studies, and the American Council of Learned Societies.
Johnson's book "The Fear of French Negroes: Transcolonial Collaboration in the Revolutionary Americas" (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012) is an inter-disciplinary study that explores how people responded to the collapse and reconsolidation of colonial life in the aftermath of the Haitian Revolution (1791-1845). The book traces expressions of transcolonial black politics, both aesthetic and experiential, in places including Hispaniola, Louisiana, Jamaica, and Cuba. It was published as part of the Modern Language initiative, a partnership between the Modern Language Association, the Mellon Foundation, and several university presses.
Johnson is the co-editor of "Kaiso! Writings By and About Katherine Dunham" (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, Studies in Dance History Series, 2006) and "Una ventana a Cuba y los Estudios cubanos" (San Juan: Ediciones Callejon, Spring 2010). "Kaiso!" was named one of the top 10 arts books of 2006.
Johnson’s research and teaching areas include literature, theory and history of the Hispanophone, Francophone and Anglophone Caribbean and its diasporas; hemispheric American literature and cultural studies; the Age of Revolution in the extended Americas; and music and dance of the African Diaspora.
Areas of Expertise (6)
Diaspora
Hemispheric Studies
Caribbean Literature
Francophone Literature
African Diaspora
Cultural Studies
Accomplishments (3)
American Council of Learned Societies Fellow, University of Cambridge
2018-2019
Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award Winner
2012
Hellman Fellowship
2010-2011
Education (2)
Stanford University: Ph.D., Comparative Literature
Yale University: B.A., Comparative Literature and African American Studies
Affiliations (3)
- Affiliated Faculty in The Center for Iberian & Latin American Studies
- Affiliated Faculty for Department of Ethnic Studies
- Affiliated Faculty in Critical Gender Studies
Links (1)
Languages (2)
- English
- Spanish
Articles (5)
“He Was a Lion and He Would Destroy Much”: A Practical and Speculative School of Revolutionary Politics
Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of CriticismSara Johnson
Forthcoming, 2019
“Your Mother Gave Birth to a Pig”: Power, Abuse, and Planter Linguistics in Baudry des Lozière’s Vocabulaire Congo
Early American StudiesSara Johnson
2018
Moreau de Saint-Méry: Itinerant Bibliophile
Library and Information HistorySara Johnson
2015
Never Put your Feet where your Eyes Cain't See: A Meditation on Deepness
South: A Scholarly JournalSara Johsnon
2015
