Dr. Christopher De Santis
Professor of African American and American Literature
Office
STV Stevenson Hall 338
Office Hours
By appointment
Office Phone
Email
- About
- Education
- Awards & Honors
- Selected Research
Biography
Christopher C. De Santis is Professor of African American and American Literature at Illinois State University.
Current Courses
ENG 265.001 Foundations Of African-American Literature & Culture
ENG 300.003 Senior Seminar
ENG 300.004 Senior Seminar
Teaching Interests & Areas
African-American Literature and Culture; "Race" in American Literature; American history, particularly Reconstruction and the Civil Rights era and their literary and cultural legacies; Southern Literature
Research Interests & Areas
19th and 20th century American and African-American Literature; the Reconstruction Era and its Legacies; Racial Ideologies and National Identity; The Harlem Renaissance; Langston Hughes; Southern Literature.
PhD English
University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
MA Afro-American Studies
University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
BA English
Lewis and Clark College
Portland Oregon
Sigma Tau Delta Faculty Appreciation Award
Sigma Tau Delta
2012
English Education Program Recognition
Illinois State University
2006
Sigma Tau Delta Faculty Appreciation Award
Sigma Tau Delta
2006
Strand Diversity Achievement Award
Illinois State University
2003
Sigma Tau Delta Faculty Appreciation Award
Sigma Tau
2002
University Research Initiative Award
Illinois State University
2002
Pre-Tenure Faculty Initiative Grant
Illinois State University
2001
College of Arts and Sciences Teaching Initiative Award
Illinois State University
2000
Sigma Tau Delta Faculty Appreciation Award
Sigma Tau
2000
University Research Grant
Illinois State University
2000
Graduate School Dissertation Fellowship
University of Kansas
1997
Great Lakes Book Award
1997
Honors, Ph.D. Final Examination
University of Kansas
1997
Edwin M. Hopkins Award
University of Kansas
1996
Merrill Award
University of Kansas
1996
Kenneth Rockwell Award
University of Kansas
1994
University of Kansas Summer Graduate Honors Fellowship
University of Kansas
1994
Ford Foundation Research Grant
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1990
Book Review
The Contemporary African American Novel Narrowly Conceived," rev. of The Contemporary African American Novel: Its Folk Roots and Modern Literary Branches, by Bernard W. Bell
Christopher De Santis.
(2005), 27.1, 18-19, American Book Review, American Book Review
Review of Dancing with Strangers: A Memoir, by Mel Watkins
Christopher De Santis.
(2000), 34.3, 561-562, African American Review, African American Review
Review of Rails Under My Back, by Jeffery Renard Allen
Christopher De Santis.
(2000), 22, Review of Contemporary Fiction, Review of Contemporary Fiction
Ralph Ellison's Juneteenth and the Problems of Literary Hearsay
Christopher De Santis.
(1999), 21.1, 7-9, American Book Review, American Book Review
Racial Violence, Cultural Anxiety, and American Literature at the Turn-of-the-Century
Christopher De Santis.
(1998), 39.1, 154-156, American Studies Journal, American Studies Journal
Review of The Louisiana Native Guards: The Black Military Experience during the Civil War, by James G. Hollandsworth, Jr.
Christopher De Santis.
(1996), 35.1, 134-136, Southern Quarterly, Southern Quarterly
The Content of a Distinguished Career
Christopher De Santis.
(1994), 28.1, 147-150, African American Review, African American Review
Book, Chapter
"Reassessing Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance: Towards an African American Aesthetic"
Christopher De Santis.
(2012), Critical Insights: Langston Hughes, Salem Press
The Ways of White Folks: A Study Guide
Christopher De Santis.
(2010), vol. 5,, 172-177, Research Guide to American Literature, American Modernism 1915-1945, Facts on File
Langston Hughes
Christopher De Santis.
(2007), Vol. III, 137-138, Encyclopedia of American Literature, Facts on File
The Essayistic Vision of Langston Hughes
Christopher De Santis.
(2007), 284-304, Montage of a Dream: The Art and Life of Langston Hughes, University of Missouri Press
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Christopher De Santis.
(2007), Vol. III, 207, Encyclopedia of American Literature, Facts on File
Dunbar, Paul Laurence (1872-1906)
Christopher De Santis.
(2006), 3 vols, Vol 1, 266-267, Encyclopedia of the Great Black Migration, Greenwood Press
Hughes, James Mercer Langston (1902-1967)
Christopher De Santis.
(2006), 3 vols, vol. 1, 416-418, Encyclopedia of the Great Black Migration, Greenwood Press
Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance
Christopher De Santis.
(2004), 588-593, Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance, Routledge
Langston Hughes
Christopher De Santis.
(2000), 201-202, An Encyclopedia of American Literature of the Sea and the Great Lakes, Greenwood Press
Melvin B. Tolson
Christopher De Santis.
(1999), vol. 21, 731-732, American National Biography, Oxford University Press
Badman
Christopher De Santis.
(1997), 42, The Oxford Companion to African American Literature, Oxford University Press
Baltimore Afro-American
Christopher De Santis.
(1997), 46, The Oxford Companion to African American Literature, Oxford University Press
Chicago Defender
Christopher De Santis.
(1997), 132, The Oxford Companion to African American Literature, Oxford University Press
Langston Hughes Review
Christopher De Santis.
(1997), 427, The Oxford Companion to African American Literature, Oxford University Press
Phylon
Christopher De Santis.
(1997), 573, The Oxford Companion to African American Literature, Oxford University Press
Desegregation
Christopher De Santis.
(1996), 125, Dictionary of Twentieth Century Culture, African American Culture volume, Manly, Inc
Langston Hughes
Christopher De Santis.
(1996), 82-183, Dictionary of Twentieth Century Culture, African American Culture volume, Manly, Inc
Plantation Tradition
Christopher De Santis.
(1996), 339, Dictionary of Twentieth Century Culture, African American Culture volume, Manly, Inc
Scottsboro Boys
Christopher De Santis.
(1996), 380-381, Dictionary of Twentieth Century Culture, African American Culture volume, Manly, Inc
Book, Edited
Let America Be America Again: Conversations with Langston Hughes
Christopher C De Santis.
(2022), 368, Oxford University Press
Langston Hughes: A Documentary Volume, vol. 315, Dictionary of Literary Biography
Christopher De Santis.
(2005), 315, Bruccoli Clark Layman, Inc
Essays on Art, Race, Politics, and Word Affairs, vol. 9, The Collected Works of Langston Hughes
Christopher De Santis.
(2002), vol 9, University of Missouri Press
Fight for Freedom and Other Writings on Civil Rights, vol. 10, The Collected Works of Langston Hughes
Christopher De Santis.
(2001), vol. 10, University of Missouri Press
Langston Hughes and the Chicago Defender: Essays on Race, Politics, and Culture, 1942-62
Christopher De Santis.
(1995), University of Missouri Press
Journal Article
“The Brilliant Rebel, Rebelling Against Everything: The Nonfictional Writings of Langston Hughes”
Christopher De Santis.
Langston Hughes Review, 25 (1), 105-114, (2019)
Pseudo-History Versus Social Critique: Faulkner's Reconstruction
Christopher De Santis.
Southern Quarterly, 43.1 (9-27), (2005)
Dear Carlo, Dear Langston: An Epistolary Friendship
Christopher De Santis.
Documentary Editing, 24.2 (53-55), (2002)
Some chord of kinship stronger and deeper than blood': An Interview with John F Callahan, Editor of Ralph Ellison's Juneteenth
Christopher De Santis.
African American Review, 34.4, 601-620, (2000)
The Dangerous Marrow of Southern Tradition: Charles W. Chesnutt, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and the Paternalist Ethos at the Turn-of-the-Century
Christopher De Santis.
Southern Quarterly, 38.2, 79-97, (2000)
Exchanging Our Country Marks: A Review Essay,
Christopher De Santis.
Southern Quarterly, 37.2, 63-66, (1999)
The Thing Indefinable and Unconquerable': Howard Fast's Experiment in Democracy
Christopher De Santis.
Journal of American Culture, 22.1, 1-7, (1999)
Rage, Repudiation, and Endurance: Langston Hughes's Radical Writings
Christopher De Santis.
Contemporary Literary Criticism, vol. 108, 317-322, (1998)
Southern Reconstruction and the Rhetoric of Enlightened Paternalism in Rebecca Harding Davis's Waiting for the Verdict
Christopher C De Santis.
CLA Journal, 41 (3), 249-268, (1998)
Refiguring Literary Images of an All-White Eden: A Review Essay
Christopher De Santis.
Southern Quarterly, 36.1, 145-147, (1997)
Innovative Phrasings in Literary Scholarship: Craig Werner's Playing the Change
Christopher De Santis.
Southern Quarterly, 34.1, 125-128, (1994)
Racializing the Plague: The Marginalization of the African American Presence during the Philadelphia Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793
Christopher De Santis.
Mid-America American Studies Association Conference, (1994)
Voice, Identity and the African-American Literary Tradition
Christopher De Santis.
Southern Quarterly, 31.4, 141-146, (1993)
Other
Langston Hughes's Radical Aesthetic
Christopher De Santis.
Upward Bound Program, (1994)
Presentations
Langston Hughes and the NAACP
Christopher De Santis.
Fight for Freedom: A Century of the NAACP and the Struggle for Racial Equality, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, , 2009
Reading 'Race' in the American Literature Classroom: Problems and Issues
Christopher De Santis.
Conference of Illinois Teachers of English, Normal, Illinois, Normal, IL, , 2006
The Harlem Renaissance
Christopher De Santis.
Paderborn American Studies Institute, Normal, Illinois, , 2005
The Dangerous Marrow of Southern Tradition: Charles W. Chesnutt's Critique of the Color Line
Christopher De Santis.
Ohio Writers Celebration, Notre Dame College, Cleveland, Ohio, , 2003
Black Writers in the Age of Reaction
Christopher De Santis.
Paderborn American Studies Institute, Normal, IL, , 2003
Rediscovering Langston Hughes as Essayist
Christopher De Santis.
Let America Be America Again: An International Symposium on the Art, Life & Legacy of Langston Hughes, Lawrence, Kansas, , 2002
The Essayistic Vision of African America's Poet Laureate: New Directions for Hughes Scholarship,
Christopher De Santis.
Modern Language Association Convention, New York, , 2002
Reconstruction Politics, Historical Memory, and the American Novel: The Case of Ralph Ellison,
Christopher De Santis.
American Culture Association Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, , 2000
The Tyranny of the Southern Past in the 1930s: Scottsboro, Margaret Mitchell, and William Faulkner
Christopher De Santis.
Back to the Futures: An Institute in American Studies, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, , 1999
The ‘Ordeal’ of Integration
Christopher De Santis.
Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities Program on "The Ends of Civilization,, East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, , 1999
Literature and Social Concern
Christopher De Santis.
Massachusetts State Colleges Graduate Research Symposium, Worcester, Massachusetts, , 1999
Freedom Road: Howard Fast's Contribution to Reconstruction Era Myth-Breaking,
Christopher De Santis.
Modern Language Association Convention, Chicago, , 1999
Ralph Ellison's War on the Myths of the Post-War Years: The Legacy of Reconstruction in Invisible Man
Christopher De Santis.
American Culture Association Conference, Orlando, Florida, , 1998
Teaching Ellison's Invisible Man in the Context of the Great Migration
Christopher De Santis, Elizabeth A Schultz.
NEH Summer Seminar for College Teachers on "The Great Migration and American Culture, Lawrence, Kansas, , 1996