I am a Professor of English and Africana Studies, having taught African American literature and early English literature here at the College for 20 years out of a 33 year teaching career. I have published scholarly books and articles on African American writers, focusing on women (including a juvenile biography of Phillis Wheatley) and the Harlem Renaissance. I have also edited American and African American literature anthologies for Pearson Custom Publishing. My current work-in-progress is an edited volume on Approaches to Teaching the Novels of Nella Larsen for the Modern Language Association series. In addition, my current teaching and research interest is ecocritical (or green) studies, the relationship of literature and the environment. I am especially interested in issues regarding the relationship of persons of color to the environment as expressed through literature and other arts.