Rate My Professor Michael Hill

Michael D. Hill is Professor and Program Head of Africana Studies at Washington and Lee University, where he serves as the inaugural Director of the DeLaney Center. He earned a B.A. summa cum laude from Howard University and both an M.A. and Ph.D. in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University. Hill joined Washington and Lee in 2018 after twelve years as Professor of African American Studies and English at the University of Iowa, where he received tenure in 2013. Earlier in his career, he taught American and African American literature at Wake Forest University. In addition to his academic roles, Hill acts as Faculty Athletics Mentor for the football team.

A scholar of African-American culture, literature, and history, Hill's research centers on post-World War II African American literature and popular culture, with particular attention to how Black individuals pursue excellence within predominantly white institutions. Over more than two decades in academia, he has lectured widely on African American authors during and since the Civil Rights Movement era. His publications include two books—The Ethics of Swagger: Prizewinning African American Narratives, 1967-1990s (2013) and the co-edited Invisible Hawkeyes: African Americans at the University of Iowa during the Long Civil Rights Era (2016)—as well as the edited volume African American Literature in Transition, 1940-1950 (2022), numerous chapters, and articles. At Washington and Lee, Hill leads the interdisciplinary Africana Studies minor, which examines cultures and experiences of African people and the African Diaspora through literature, history, sociology, economics, politics, art, and music. As Director of the DeLaney Center, he advances research, events, and initiatives on Southern Black history and related topics.