Join us for a talk by Kristin L. Matthews, professor of English at BYU and specialist in twentieth-century American literature and culture. Drawing on her expertise in African-American literature, Professor Matthews explores how contemporary young adult fiction by and about Black girls reimagines identity, agency, and belonging in the twenty-first century.
Kristin L. Matthews is a Fall 2025 Kennedy Center Faculty Fellow. A scholar whose work bridges literature, politics, and popular culture, Professor Matthews has published widely in leading journals and is the author of Reading America: Citizenship, Democracy, and Cold War Literature (University of Massachusetts Press). She is also an affiliated faculty member with American Studies, Global Women’s Studies, and Africana Studies at the Kennedy Center.
Part of the Kennedy Center's fall 2025 lecture series, "The Future of Citizenship."