Melanie R. Hill

Dr. Melanie R. Hill’s transdisciplinary research focuses on the intersections of literature,  music, and theology, covering such topics as Black feminism, womanist thought, and the element of the sermon in African American literature. With articles published on Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald, and the sermon as sonic art in James Baldwin’s "The Amen Corner," Dr. Hill's forthcoming book, Colored Women Sittin’ on High: Womanist Sermonic Practice in Literature and Music, is under contract with the University of North Carolina Press (UNC Press). Colored Women Sittin' on High focuses on the ways in which Black women preachers in African American literature, music, and in the space of the pulpit counter social injustices through sermon and song.  She received her Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania with graduate certificates in Africana Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. 

In addition to her scholarship, Dr. Hill is a Gospel Soul violinist who has performed at the White House on two occasions under the Obama administration, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Apollo Theater in New York, the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and for Pope Francis's Papal Mass during his historic visit to the United States.

Publications:

• Singing in the Midnight Hour: An Encounter with the Queen of Soul in The Village Voice

Media Appearances/Speaking Engagements:

• Mellon Research Forum for the Urban Environment at Princeton University

• How I Teach These Texts: Morrison and Music Pedagogical Workshop with the Teagle Foundation

• Hurston/Wright Fellow in Washington, DC

Previous Organizations: 

• Yale University

Accomplishments:

• Featured scholar and musician for the Gathering of the Elders Civil Rights conference featuring Ruby Sales

• Featured panelist for the Performing Justice panel on Martin L. King, Jr. and music for the American Academy of Religion conference

Upcoming Projects:

• Black Women Speakers of Prominence: An Evening of Music and Social Justice

• Black Women Speakers of Prominence featuring Mrs. Lucy Anne Hurston, niece of Zora Neale Hurston

As my transdisciplinary research examines the intersections of African American literature, music, and spirituality, my work focuses specifically on the ways in which Black women preachers as cultural figures utilize the sermon as a mode of resistance in literary, musicological, and theological discourses.