Kelly O. Secovnie
Associate Professor
English
EMAIL: ksecovnie@bmcc.cuny.edu
Office: N-751D
Office Hours:
Phone: +1 (212) 776-6499
Kelly O. Secovnie received her M.A. in English from the University of Kansas and her Ph.D. in English from the University at Albany, SUNY. Her dissertation, “Translating the Transatlantic: West African Literary Approaches to African American Identity” reflects her interest in West African drama, as well as issues of transatlantic history and identity among Africans and African Americans. She began teaching at BMCC in 2009 and enjoys teaching English 88, 101, 201, and upper-level courses such as English 336: Postcolonial Literature, English 392: World Literature II, and her Special Topics course: English 350: Black Radical Writers.
Expertise
Race & Ethnicity
Degrees
- B.A. University at Albany, SUNY, English,1999
- M.A. University of Kansas, English Literature and Theory,2004
- Ph.D. University at Albany, SUNY, English Literature,2009
Courses Taught
- English Composition is the standard freshman writing course. The course introduces students to academic writing. By its conclusion, students will be ready for English 201 and for the writing they will be asked to do in advanced courses across the curriculum. Students completing ENG 101 will have mastered the fundamentals of college-level reading and writing, including developing a thesis-driven response to the writing of others and following the basic conventions of citation and documentation. They will have practiced what Mike Rose calls the "habits of mind" necessary for success in college and in the larger world: summarizing, classifying, comparing, contrasting, and analyzing. Students will be introduced to basic research methods and MLA documentation and complete a research project. Students are required to take a departmental final exam that requires the composition of a 500 word, thesis-driven essay in conversation with two designated texts. Prerequisite: Pass the CAT-R and CAT-W or Accuplacer tests
- This is a course that builds upon skills introduced in English 101. In this course, literature is the field for the development of critical reading, critical thinking, independent research, and writing skills. Students are introduced to literary criticisms and acquire basic knowledge necessary for the analysis of texts (including literary terms and some literary theory); they gain proficiency in library and internet research; and they hone their skills as readers and writers. Assignments move from close readings of literary texts in a variety of genres to analyses that introduce literary terms and broader contexts, culminating in an independent, documented, thesis-driven research paper. By the conclusion of English 201, students will be prepared for the analytical and research-based writing required in upper-level courses across the curriculum; they will also be prepared for advanced courses in literature. Prerequisite: ENG 101
- This course will study and analyze selected novels, short stories, poems and plays of postcolonial writers from Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, the English speaking Caribbean, New Zealand, Canada and Australia. The course will examine the ways in which postcolonial writers transcend a British imperial legacy of colonialism to redefine their own distinctive social and cultural worlds. Note: This course is crosslisted as: AFL 336.
- This course will focus on a specific theme, concept, cultural milieu, or major author to be announced in advance. Topics for the following semester will be made available by the English Department during registration. Each section of the course will cover in-depth a single special topic, such as one of the following: the Harlem Renaissance, Literature and the Environment, Utopian and Dystopian Literature, Literature and Medicine, The Beat Generation, Literature of the Working Class, Satire in the 18th Century, Censorship and Literature, Literature of Immigration, War in Literature, Madness and Inspiration in Literature, Gay and Lesbian Literature, and Women in Shakespeare. Prerequisites: ENG 101 and 201, or ENG 121
- This course presents a global approach to literature by introducing prose, poetry and drama representative of different cultures and historical periods, from the 17th century to the present. Students engage in close readings of individual texts and contextual/comparative analyses. Written and spoken activities are designed to enhance students? appreciation of literature and their awareness of the ways it arises from, shapes, and reflects the world?s cultures.
Research and Projects
Publications
- “Cultural Translation in Ama Ata Aidoo’s _The Dilemma of a Ghost_ and Osonye Tess Onwueme’s _The Missing Face_”, Journal of African Literature and Culture, pp. 127-149
- “Feminism and Women’s Equality Movements, African” and “Feminism and Women’s Equality Movements, U.S.” in _Africa and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History_, ABC-CLIO
- “Ama Ata Aidoo and Kofi Awoonor: Pan-Africanism Reconstructed” , Obsidian III, pp. 113-128
- “Lorraine Hansberry” in _Encyclopedia of African American Women Writers_, Greenwood Press
Honors, Awards and Affiliations
Federal Language Area Studies fellowship (FLAS) for the study of Beginning Yor¿Stanford University. Summer 2007 Richard Thorns Dissertation FellowshipUniversity at Albany, SUNY, Department of English. 2008-2009 PSC-CUNY Summer Research FellowshipBMCC, CUNY, Summer 2010 Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Fellowship for the study of Advanced YorubaObafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Summer 2008
Additional Information
Dissertation title: “Translating the Transatlantic: West African Literary Approaches to African American Identity”
