Don Holmes

Don Holmes originally from Progress, Mississippi, is an Assistant Professor of English. He received his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BA (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Southern Mississippi. His research interests span early African American literature, rhetoric, and culture from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. Specifically, Holmes investigates the narratives of early Black writers and speakers as a way to uncover their generative responses to anti-Black subjugation and anti-democratic practices during the colonial and antebellum eras. Holmes’ first book project, tentatively titled, "Their Undefeated Spirits: How Black Africans Confronted Disorder in Early America" traces how Black Africans/African Americans confronted societal, religious, and political disorder throughout early America through generative rhetorical practices that offered the types of alternative ideologies we find purchase in today in the contemporary world. His work around chaos and uncertainty in antebellum America continues in the life and writings of Phillis Wheatley-Peters in some forthcoming writing about her rhetorical engagements during the American Revolution. Dr. Holmes teaches in both the literature and rhetoric programs at the University of Pittsburg. Prior to joining the faculty at Pitt, he was a Lecturer of English at Carnegie Mellon University.

Courses Taught:

English 1200: American Literature Origins to 1860

English 0570: Topics in Black Rhetoric: "The Word at Work"