DR. SELAMAWIT TERREFE OBITUARY: RENOWNED SCHOLAR AND PROFESSOR OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE PASSES AWAY
The academic community is mourning the loss of Dr. Selamawit Terrefe, a distinguished professor at Tulane University and a leading scholar in African American literature and culture.
Her passing leaves a significant void in the fields of Global Black Studies, Critical Theory, Psychoanalysis, Gender and Sexuality, Continental Philosophy, and radical and revolutionary social movements.
Dr. Terrefe’s research focused on the pervasive nature of anti-Black violence worldwide, challenging dominant theories and offering new perspectives on racial slavery, postcolonial melancholia, and violence.
Her work was characterized by its interdisciplinary approach, combining insights from various fields to shed light on the complexities of racial violence and its impact on Black communities.
As the 2022-2024 Williams College Faculty Fellow for the Mellon ‘Just Futures’ initiative, Dr. Terrefe was a rising star in her field, and her contributions to the academy will be deeply missed.
Her future research, conceived as a ‘semio(n)tics of Blackness,’ promised to break new ground in understanding the ontic entity of the slave-in-flight in contemporary discourses of global Black migration and Afro-futurist visual arts.
Dr. Terrefe’s academic journey took her from a postdoctoral scholarship in Black Atlantic Studies at the University of Bremen’s English Speaking Cultures department to her appointment as a professor at Tulane University. Throughout her career, she was dedicated to mentoring and inspiring students, colleagues, and communities alike.
The news of Dr. Terrefe’s passing has sent shockwaves through the academic community, with tributes pouring in from scholars and students who were touched by her work and her presence.
Her legacy will continue to inspire and challenge us, pushing us to confront the harsh realities of racial violence and to imagine a more just and equitable future.
In the words of Dr. Terrefe, “The ontics of Blackness is not just a matter of being, but also of becoming.” Her own becoming was cut short, but her work will continue to shape our understanding of the world and our place within it. Rest in power, Dr. Selamawit Terrefe. Your scholarship, teaching, and mentorship will never be forgotten.
