Sarah Buckner is the rare individual whose persona can actually be described as effervescent. Her office walls are still bare — she only recently moved to Columbia from a small liberal arts college in north-east Pennsylvania  — but the lack of artwork isn’t even noticeable as she starts talking. Her presence itself feels like its own form of art; her style is vibrant and colorful; her glasses are a pink shade that perfectly matches her outfit and lipstick; and her laugh is warm and infectious. 

She’s also acutely aware of the fact that she upends any stereotype of a quiet, bookish English professor. Her first few years in graduate school were incredibly difficult—she describes feeling lonely, alienated, and even stupid when compared to her peers. Her parents had little higher education experience, which left her feeling unprepared for the unique performance of academia. It wasn't until her third year in her PhD program that she finally found her groove; ironically embracing the experience after realizing that she could actually leave the program if she wanted. That’s when she stopped trying to make herself smaller and quieter in the classroom and started to narrow in on which authors and concepts were most exciting for her.  

Her current book project is based on her dissertation, which started as an exploration of how Black women use silence strategically. But it wasn’t until she enrolled in an independent study with a professor who let her create her own reading list that she found her interest area. Her dissertation became a project devoted to exploring and analyzing Black feeling and how it’s portrayed in literature—like the clenching of fists, the rendering of dialect, and the actions happening in silence. She talks about the writers and texts that inspire her, like Gwendolyn Brooks, Nella Larson, and Toni Morrison, with an excited reverence. 

Buckner’s research is interwoven with affect theory, auto-theoretical elements, and Black feminist theory. Her research emphasizes a shift toward thinking about feeling seriously. She argues that so much of how Black feeling is thought about is still very much dependent on slavery-era constructs that still heavily shape medicine and science. 

Get to know Sarah Buckner

What are you currently reading/watching/listening to?

I just rewatched the original Sabrina the Teenage Witch and am doing the same with the original L Word. I've also been listening to the newest seasons of Serial and In the Dark podcasts.

What can’t you get enough of?

Sweets, flowers, vibrant colors

What are you looking forward to in the new year?

Just more life! Dinners with friends, astrological readings, shared existential crises.

What is your current/next research focus/teaching focus?

Next semester I'm teaching classes about Black love and also American Hauntings--so ghosts and ardor, really.

What’s your favorite(s) Columbia, MO spot?

I'm still figuring this out! Right now, it's my apartment because my kitties live there. 

When you’re not on campus, what can you be found doing?

Writing at coffee shops, baking cakes, chatting the night away in a bar or restaurant.

What’s one fun fact about yourself?

Hmmmmm, I learned to swim from a book.

Where did you grow up?

I lived in a very small town in South Texas called Somerset until I was 11 and then in Las Vegas, Nevada from then until I was 23.

Why English? Why do you want to teach/research in your field?

I kind of feel like English picked me. I don't really remember choosing it. That said, I chose my field because African American/Black literature is the place I learned about race, and it's the thing that gave me language for talking about oppression. In teaching it, I hope to help students reframe the past as a means of crafting clearer, more nuanced interpretations of the present.

Sarah Buckner graduated from the University of California: Riverside with her PhD in English literature. She recently moved to Columbia after teaching for several years at the liberal arts Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. She teaches courses in African diasporic and queer literatures of the 19th and 20th centuries. Her current book project is entitled Exposed Flesh: A Literary History of Black Being and theorizes Black affect through a history of exposure and public display.