Courtney Terry joins Portland State as an assistant professor in Black Studies. Born and reared in South Central Los Angeles, she graduated from Humboldt State University in Arcata, California with a bachelor's degree in Ethnic Studies in 2009. She went on to pursue graduate studies at Clark Atlanta University, a historically Black college in Atlanta, Georgia. She earned a master's in African American Studies (2011) and a doctorate in humanities specializing in English literature and African American Studies.
Terry's research interests are contemporary rap music and hip-hop culture as it manifests in North America and throughout the diaspora.
What makes this work meaningful to you?
My work is absolutely essential to the next wave of Rap Studies, African American/ Black Studies scholarship. I am a rap theorist and my work seeks to investigate and expose the voices of those within hip-hop culture and rap music.
What drew you to PSU and in particular, the School of Gender, Race and Nations?
I am enamored with the rich and well-nuanced history of the Pacific NorthWest. Particularly, Portland State University houses one of the oldest Black Studies Programs in the nation and I am excited to help extend that legacy into the future.
What’s a course you’re particularly excited to teach?
I am excited to teach my first course at PSU on the lived experiences of African Americans in the 20th century. I will focus on the cultural productions that contributed to African Americans creating and maintaining agency in the realms of education, politics, and cultural aesthetics.
What’s one thing you hope students who take a class with you will come away with?
As always, I hope students I encounter go away with an intellectual curiosity that fuels them to engage the breadth of the discipline of Black Studies.
What are you most looking forward to doing in your first year at PSU?
I am most looking forward to being a part of and contributing to the intellectual legacy being fostered on campus and in the local community.