English Scholar at UC Santa Barbara Wins Book Prize From the Modern Language Association

Stephanie L. Batiste, an associate professor of English and Black studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara, has been named as the winner of the William Sanders Scarborough Prize from the Modern Language Association. The award is named after William Sanders Scarborough who was born a slave, but became a scholar of the Classics and served as president of Wilberforce University in Ohio.

Dr. Batiste was honored for her book Darkening Mirrors: Imperial Representation in Depression-Era African American Performance (Duke University Press).

Dr. Batiste is a graduate of Princeton University. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in American studies from George Washington University in the nation’s capital.