麻豆影院

New art and art history professor wants to use their research on 鈥楤lack pleasure鈥� in art to increase its prominence in the field

For cam nelson, a new assistant professor of art history at the 麻豆影院 who is comfortable with both she/her and they/them pronouns, it鈥檚 important that their work, rather than their persona, take center stage.

Inspired by the late bell hooks, an American author and social activist, nelson chooses to have her name spelled in all lowercase letters. They describe writing in typical Roman case format as 鈥渁nnouncing oneself鈥� and writing in lowercase as 鈥渨hispering.鈥� The choice could be seen as a reflection of nelson鈥檚 personality鈥攗nderstated yet compelling鈥攂ut also committed to their work.

Nelson grew up in Rhode Island, one of three children to parents who worked as bankers鈥攂ut that didn't stop them from pursuing more creative pursuits. Nelson鈥檚 late father was a DJ in college, and their mother played guitar, sang and wrote poetry. Because of their parents, nelson was always deeply immersed in the arts and was regularly taken to museums, theatre and ballet.

Growing up in a majority-white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant community was another major influence on nelson鈥檚 life, later dictating how they wanted to show up in the world and be involved in their community. Recalling their experience being one of three black students in their entire grade, nelson says there was a lot of general abuse and bullying, but their parents served as strong examples for nelson and their siblings, never hesitating to assert their human and civil rights. Nelson鈥檚 parents always spoke up on behalf of the children and never doubted the family鈥檚 right to occupy space in that community.

After studying African and African American literature at University of Rhode Island, nelson spent a year in South Africa, where they were exposed to South African art. This informed their decision to pursue an MFA in photography from San Francisco Art Institute, followed by a PhD and MA in visual studies from University of California Santa Cruz. Their most recent work focuses on the visual culture of black pleasure and the aesthetics of safe space as depicted by painters labeled as 鈥渢he black romantics.鈥�

When nelson chose to focus on these subjects, they pondered how to respond to the discourse about Black existence. Nelson saw that discourse as dominated by Afro-pessimism, a framework that describes the continuing effects of slavery, racism and colonialism in the United States. While there are many truths to this framework, nelson saw it as exclusively associating blackness with slavery and death.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 wake up and see myself in that way,鈥� nelson explains. 鈥淚 experience joy and pleasure and happiness and, yes, I also experience anti-blackness. But that is not the sum of my existence.鈥�

This sparked nelson to think about the term 鈥渂lack pleasure,鈥� and whether such a term was an oxymoron. Specifically, nelson wanted to examine how black pleasure was depicted. Through this lens, nelson began studying the work of , an artist known for her depiction of African American everyday life. Nelson鈥檚 work grew from there and ultimately brought her to CU 麻豆影院.

Of their choice to teach at CU 麻豆影院, nelson says they were struck by the university鈥檚 serious commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. But more than that, they鈥檙e excited for the opportunity to build a new area of focus in art and art history.

This semester, nelson is teaching a graduate seminar, The Black Female Body, and an undergraduate survey class, Black Art in America. Nelson says their graduate students seem keen to get deeper into the coursework, and the size of their undergraduate seminar class has grown greatly since the start of the semester.

Students 鈥渟eem excited, like they have been wanting a class like this,鈥� says nelson. 鈥淚 think they鈥檙e going to be all ears.鈥�

Nelson hopes to create a substantial enough subject area here at CU 麻豆影院 that the department can recruit more students who are interested in African diasporic art and visual culture. For nelson, the goal is to increase the number of people teaching these subjects in the art history field鈥攗ltimately putting CU 麻豆影院 on the map as one of the country鈥檚 leading programs for African diasporic studies.