Dr. Julia Sun-Joo Lee has gotten used to the strange looks that sometimes greet her on the first day of class.
“My students may initially be surprised to see me in the classroom,” says Lee, who teaches African-American Literature at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“But I always say that African-American literature is not just limited to African- Americans. It is American literature and is so much a part of the history of this country. It shouldn’t be ghettoized.”
Lee, who is Korean American, earned her Ph.D. in English and American Language and Literature from Harvard University in 2008 and credits Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. with piquing her interest in African-American and transatlantic literature.
