Matthew is a second-year PhD in English and American Literature and a Lynn Cooper Harvey Fellow in American Culture Studies. Matthew’s research traces Black radical thought from as early as the 18^th century to the present. In his transhistorical approach he seeks out a multiplicity of Black radicalisms in contradistinction to a singular Black Radical Tradition. 

 

He is especially attuned to the experimental, dialogic, and improvisational nature of Black radical politics. Ultimately, he means to discern and consequently analyze a distinct Black radical aesthetic. His research takes up the following questions: How does an aesthetic project shape radical modalities? What does a Black radical aesthetic look like and how does it manifest? To what extent does the type of aesthetic medium (art, prose, poetry, music, film, etc.) inflect radical praxis?