Joseph Skerrett facts for kids

Joseph T. Skerrett (1943 – July 25, 2015) was an American professor and writer. He taught English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He was known for studying literature, especially works by and about Black people. His most famous book was Literature, Race and Ethnicity: Contesting American Identities.

Joseph Skerrett was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1943. He went to Saint Francis College and earned his first degree in 1964. Later, he studied creative writing at Johns Hopkins University. He also earned a Ph.D. in English from Yale University. At Yale, he focused on African-American literature from the 1900s.

Teaching and Editing Work

Professor Skerrett joined the English Department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1973. He taught students about different kinds of literature.

From 1986 to 1999, he was the editor of a special journal called MELUS. This journal focused on literature from many different cultures in the United States. It helped people learn about the stories and writings of various American groups.

Key Publications

Joseph Skerrett wrote and edited several important books. These books helped people understand how literature explores different cultures and identities in America.

• Editor, Literature, Race and Ethnicity: Contesting American Identities (2001)

* This was his most well-known book. It is a collection of writings that look at how race and ethnicity are shown in American literature.

• Editor, MELUS (journal)

* As editor, he helped share many different American stories through this journal.

• Co-Editor, Memory, Narrative and Identity: New Essays in Ethnic American Literatures (1994)

* He worked with Amritjit Singh and Robert E. Hogan on this book. It explores how memory and stories shape the identities of different ethnic groups in America.

• Co-Editor, Memory and Cultural Politics: New Approaches to American Ethnic Literatures (1996)

* This book, also co-edited with Singh and Hogan, continued to explore memory and culture in American ethnic literature.

Awards and Recognition

Joseph Skerrett received several awards for his work and contributions.

• UMass Chancellor's Award for Multiculturalism (1996)

* This award recognized his efforts to promote understanding of different cultures at the University of Massachusetts.

• Honorary Doctorate of Literature, Saint Francis College (1998)

* His old college, Saint Francis College, gave him a special honorary degree. This showed how much they respected his achievements in literature.