Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
Born
Detroit
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
Wayne State University
Scientific career
InstitutionsWayne State University
Florida A&M University
Thesis"We're Saying the Same Thing": How English Teachers Negotiated Solidarity, Identity, and Ethics Through Talk and Interaction. (2010)

Ebony Elizabeth Thomas is an American writer and educator who is a professor at the University of Michigan School of Education. Her research considers children's literature and fan culture. Her book, The Dark Fantastic, was awarded the 2020 Children's Literature Association Book Award.

Education and early career

Thomas was born and raised in Detroit.[1] She studied English education at Florida A&M University, then completed her master's degree at Wayne State University, with a focus on American literature. Thomas joined the University of Michigan for doctoral research, where she studied discourse conflicts in schooling and society.[2]

After graduating, Thomas worked a teacher in the Detroit Public Schools Community District. She taught high school English and creative writing. She held various positions on the National Council of Teachers of English, including the Conference on English Education's executive committee.[3] She completed her research in the Pinnacle Classroom Discourse Study Group, a collective of teachers committed to ending the racial awarding gap.[2]

Research

Thomas was appointed an assistant professor at Wayne State University in 2010, where she spent two years before moving to the University of Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, Thomas focused on African-American education.[4] In 2021, Thomas joined the faculty of the University of Michigan School of Education.[5] In 2019 Thomas spoke out against Sarah Dessen and a number of other young adult authors on Twitter after a tweet by Dessen lead to the doxxing and harassment of a Northern State University alumni for criticizing Dessen's literary merit.[6]

Thomas is an expert in children's literature, and has argued that it can be a site of social progress.[7] She has investigated the representation of slavery[7] and diversity within children's books.[8][9]

Thomas was appointed to the advisory board of the Teaching Hard History project.[10] She has researched the representation of people of colour in children's and adult's American literature, and argued that white Americans do not readily share space with non-whites.

"When it comes down to it, sharing space means actually giving up something that you've always had: giving up power, giving up the spotlight, giving up money so that you can share that space. And that's hard for folks."[11]

In 2022, the public criticisms of a Black actress playing the role of Ariel in the live-action retelling of The Little Mermaid prompted Thomas to remark that policing the inclusion of characters of color in adaptions of fictional narratives amounts to an "imagination gap".[12]

Writing

Thomas' book The Dark Fantastic was released in 2019.[13] The book presents the concept of a "Dark Other" subjected to cycle of "spectacle, hesitation, violence, haunting, and emancipation," using Amandla Stenberg as Rue, Angel Coulby as Gwen, Kat Graham as Bonnie Bennett, and Noma Dumezweni as Hermione Granger as examples.[14][15] She presents the fantasy and imagination in Black feminism as a means to generate new possibilities. The book was described by the Los Angeles Review of Books as "One of the most radiant and thought-provoking descriptions of the potentials of fantastic literature".[16]

Harry Potter and the Other was released in 2022.[17] The book explores race matters in the wizarding world created by J. K. Rowling.[18]

Awards and honors

Selected publications

  • Thomas, Ebony Elizabeth; Stornaiuolo, Amy (2016-09-01). "Restorying the Self: Bending Toward Textual Justice". Harvard Educational Review. 86 (3): 313–338. doi:10.17763/1943-5045-86.3.313. ISSN 0017-8055.
  • Levy, Brett L. M.; Thomas, Ebony Elizabeth; Drago, Kathryn; Rex, Lesley A. (2013-07-23). "Examining Studies of Inquiry-Based Learning in Three Fields of Education". Journal of Teacher Education. 64 (5): 387–408. doi:10.1177/0022487113496430. ISSN 0022-4871. S2CID 145362658.

References

  1. ↑ "CLAS Acts - English - College of Liberal Arts and Sciences". www.clas.wayne.edu. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  2. 1 2 Thomas, Ebony Elizabeth (2010). "We're Saying the Same Thing": How English Teachers Negotiated Solidarity, Identity, and Ethics Through Talk and Interaction (Thesis thesis). hdl:2027.42/77791.
  3. ↑ "We Have Always Dreamed of (Afro)futures: Notes beyond the Dark Fantastic". EPIC. 2021-12-29. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  4. ↑ "Ebony Elizabeth Thomas". Africana Studies. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  5. ↑ "SOE announces appointment of Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, Associate Professor in the Educational Studies program and the Joint Program in English and Education". University of Michigan School of Education. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  6. ↑ Shapiro, Lila (2019-11-16). "Famous Authors Drag Student in Surreal YA Twitter Controversy". Vulture. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  7. 1 2 "Representing slavery in children's literature". Penn Today. 13 June 2018. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  8. ↑ "Q & A with Ebony Elizabeth Thomas: Why children need more diverse books". Penn GSE. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  9. ↑ "A conversation with Ebony Elizabeth Thomas". Penn Today. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  10. ↑ "Teaching Hard History: American Slavery". Learning for Justice. 2019-05-28. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  11. ↑ "No room for Black folk". The Bay State Banner. 2022-09-28. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  12. ↑ Kunze, Peter C. (2022-09-24). "Black Ariel fits tradition of Little Mermaid". www.royalgazette.com. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  13. ↑ Thomas, Ebony Elizabeth (2019). The dark fantastic: race and the imagination from Harry Potter to The Hunger Games. New York University Press. ISBN 978-1-4798-0065-0. OCLC 1057297554.
  14. ↑ Thomas, Ebony Elizabeth (2019). The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games. Vol. 13. New York University Press. ISBN 978-1-4798-0065-0. JSTOR j.ctv12fw6jj.
  15. ↑ "No Room for Black Folk". The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint. 2022-10-14. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  16. ↑ "Los Angeles Review of Books". Los Angeles Review of Books. 2019-09-28. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  17. ↑ Sarah Park Dahlen; Ebony Elizabeth Thomas (2022). Harry Potter and the other: race, justice, and difference in the wizarding world. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-4968-4057-8. OCLC 1332953670.
  18. ↑ Harry Potter and the Other.
  19. ↑ "Winners". The British Fantasy Society. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  20. ↑ "World Fantasy Convention 2020". WFC2020. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  21. ↑ "Ebony Elizabeth Thomas wins the 2020 Children's Literature Association's Book Award". University of Michigan School of Education. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
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