Taylor Black
Associate professor of English
Taylor Black is Associate Professor of English, specializing in 20th-century American Literature, Popular Music Studies, and Queer Theory. Black is the author of the 2023 book Style: A Queer Cosmology (NYU Press); he is currently working on a follow-up project that examines the history and prevalence of American personality cults.
What are you most looking forward to as a Faculty Fellow?
I'm looking forward to discussing ideas and hearing bad jokes.
What advice would you give to current undergraduates?
Growing up, success and failure are usually measured by some outside force. Being an adult means deciding what these things mean to and for you. You need to cultivate a sense of style that will allow you to become more and more like yourself. That way, any successes or failures you experience in the future will at least be experienced on your own terms.
What is something you think students should know during their time at Duke?
To become more like yourself, you need to save time and space for bringing that person into existence. So, in addition to all of the things that keep Duke students busy (coursework, extracurriculars, socializing, etc.), it is important to develop and maintain routines that are just for you, affording you time and space to contemplate what you are learning and experiencing and imagine how your field of awareness is expanding.