Melanie Hernandez

Melanie Hernandez is an Assistant Professor of English at Fresno State, where she teaches courses in American literature and cultural production. She specializes in nineteenth-century U.S. literature, with an emphasis on comparative African American and Chicana/o Studies. Her ongoing research focuses on strategic racial performance, authenticity politics and social policing, and violent racial satire. Prior to teaching, Melanie led another life in television and radio production. She accepts full responsibility for her role in launching the Oxygen network and ABC’s The View and for subjecting LA’s morning commuters to her so-called “humor” on K-EARTH 101. By far, however, she is most haunted by the indignities of low-level production work for Saturday Night Live!, E! News Daily, The Howard Stern Show, and Eyewitness News. Nevermore—Melanie earned a PhD in English and a certificate in public scholarship from the University of Washington (2013), an MA in English from CSU Dominguez Hills (2005), and a BA in psychology from New York University (2002). She held the Jay T. Last Fellowship in visual culture at the American Antiquarian Society and was a volunteer instructor for University Beyond Bars in collaboration with the Washington State Reformatory.