Robert Reid-Pharr returns to Harvard as full professor
Robert Reid-Pharr was an unfocused student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1986 when a professor assigned historian Drew Gilpin Faust’s biography of James Henry Hammond, a book that would inspire not only Reid-Pharr’s studies but also his career path. Reid-Pharr joined the faculty of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality (WGS) in July as the first full professor in the program. The author of four books, including “Once You Go Black” and “Archives of Flesh,” he has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Mellon Foundation. Reid-Pharr will teach two courses this semester, “The Male Black Body” and “The Gender of Celebrity.” Q&A Robert Reid-Pharr GAZETTE: Welcome — or, more accurately, welcome back. How did your experience as a visiting F.O. Matthiessen professor two years ago set the stage for your permanent role here? REID-PHARR: I was the third Matthiessen professor. My classes were...