About

Kenneth Avery Jr. (he/they) is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication & Film at The University of Memphis. Kenneth’s research is situated within critical/cultural studies and explores Black rural sexualities in the U.S. South, examining how Black queer individuals navigate, negotiate, and make meaning of their lives in rural spaces. Drawing from rhetorical theory, Black queer studies, and media studies, his work interrogates the ways in which space, place, and conceptions of darkness function as sites of refuge, resistance, and transformation for Black queer life. His scholarship also critically engages discourse as a form of power, analyzing how narratives about Black sexualities shape lived experiences, enforce social boundaries, and create possibilities for reimagining Black queer existence. Kenneth is particularly interested in how rhetorical field methods can illuminate the lives of Black queer individuals in the rural South, challenging the cultural imposition of metronormativity and urban-centric notions of queer life that often obscure or marginalize the particularity of Black rural sexualities. Through an interdisciplinary approach, his work examines the intersections of race, sexuality, geography, and discourse to expand understandings of Black queer subjectivities.

 

Education

 

BS in Communication from The University of Central Arkansas ‘18

MA in Teaching & Learning from The University of Central Arkansas ‘20

MA in Africology & African American Studies from Temple University ‘22

PhD in Communication from The University of Memphis (In Progress)