Chase Black – Director & Academic Guide

Hometown: Berkeley, CA

Pronouns: he/him/his

Professional interests: I’m excited to help students navigate life at Duke with greater awareness of how their intellectual development and overall well-being are intertwined, with the broader goal of supporting each student’s idea of what personal fulfillment means as this evolves over time.  

Summary of previous professional experience:
I have a background in teaching and research in the humanities and cultural studies. After completing my PhD at UC San Diego I was a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California Los Angeles in the “Cultures in Transnational Perspective” Program, where I taught courses in UCLA’s English Department and continued research I had begun in my graduate work on music and other popular entertainments in Hawaii–from the 1840s through ongoing US colonialism in Hawaii in the 20th century. I have completed many archival research trips to collections in Northern and Southern California, Baja California and throughout the Hawaiian islands. I’ve taught at UC San Diego, UCLA, and the University of Southern California, and my courses included critical writing, multiethnic literature, postcolonial literature and courses on US colonialism and popular culture.

Education

• Ph.D. in Literature, University of California, San Diego  
• M.A. in English, Brown University
• B.A. in English (focus in American Literature), University of California, Los Angeles 

Intellectual interests: 
American music and Americana; Feminism; Photography; Comedy; Camp; Race, colonialism, and popular entertainment in the borderlands of the U.S., with a focus on Hawaii.

Fun fact:
I was a music major during my first year of college and studied French horn performance.

What was a challenging part of college for you? 
By the end of Spring semester in my first year, I decided to switch from the music major to English and American literature. It was a big transition but fulfilling to move into the wide world of literary and cultural analysis.

What did you learn or gain in college that you have carried with you? 
It’s really important to find a sense of community wherever you are in your journey. That support structure is invaluable to shaping who you are and who you’re becoming.

What do you know now that you wish you had known in college? 
Finding a faculty mentor with whom you can discuss your interests and how to translate those into a professional path is such a vital part of your intellectual development.