Michelle Hite, Ph.D.

Biography

Michelle S. Hite, Ph.D., has been a faculty member at Spelman College since 2004. She is an associate professor in the Department of Literature, Media and Writing; Director of the Ethel Waddell Githii Honors Program; Director of International Fellowships and Scholarships; and President of the Toni Morrison Society.

Dr. Hite’s scholarship and public work center on African American literature, Black interior life, civic memory, and the ethical demands of storytelling, with particular attention to the work of Toni Morrison. She is the author of "Toni Morrison: Portraits of Human Richness" (McFarland, under contract) and co-editor of "I Die Daily: Black Bodies, Police Brutality, and the Force of Children’s Literature" (University Press of Mississippi, under contract). Her essays have appeared in "Early American Literature," "Callaloo," "Phylon," "Transformations," and "The Journal of Contemplative Inquiry," among others.

Beyond traditional scholarship, Dr. Hite is deeply engaged in public humanities and narrative-based leadership that connects interpretive practice to organizational culture. She served as academic lead for Spelman College’s partnership with Spotify, helping to develop "Emmett Till: The Cultural Afterlife of an American Boy," a podcast that models rigorous historical inquiry through audio storytelling. She also serves on the advisory board of Reflection Point (formerly Books@Work) and has facilitated reflective, story-centered conversations designed to strengthen trust, collaboration, and ethical discernment within organizations.

Dr. Hite is also the founder and faculty advisor of Spelman College’s Deliberative Exchange Team, an interdisciplinary student initiative focused on ethical reasoning, democratic dialogue, and principled disagreement. The team trains students to engage complex social and political questions through sustained inquiry, listening, and deliberation rather than debate alone, cultivating habits of judgment essential to democratic participation and leadership. Under her guidance, the Deliberative Exchange Team advances Spelman’s commitment to intellectual seriousness, civic responsibility, and ethical engagement across difference.

In addition to her scholarly work, Dr. Hite provides academic leadership across honors education, first-year learning, and fellowship advising. A former ACS Mellon Academic Leadership Fellow, she has contributed to institutional governance, strategic planning, and curricular innovation at Spelman College. Her leadership emphasizes interdisciplinary inquiry, reflective practice, and the cultivation of intellectual community--particularly in spaces that support students’ academic transition, ethical development, and global engagement.

Topics

race, culture, and gender; the portrayal of Black women in media; the intersection of multiple marginalized identities; storytelling and leadership; interpretive power and ethical responsibility; leadership at the intersections of race, gender, and institutional authority; the cultivation of organizational and intellectual culture; and belonging, recognition, and accountability in public life.

Education

• Ph.D., Emory University

• M.S., University of Kentucky

• B.A., University of Kentucky

Courses Taught

• ENG 347: Emmett Till: The Cultural (After) Life of an American Boy

• ENG 422: Except Sunday: African American Working Class Culture

• ENG 441B: Toni Morrison Seminar

Research Interests

Death and Mourning in African American Culture; Toni Morrison

Select Publications

"Beyonce, Black Motherhood, and the Return of Wrenching Times." Feminist Encounters: A Journal of Critical Studies in Culture and Politics. Volume 3 Issue 1-2: 10 Sep 2019.

“Andre’s Dread: Communicating Survival of Racial Terror.” Phylon 54.2. Special Volume on Hip Hop Culture and Rap Music Aesthetics in the Post-Civil Rights South, 28-40. Winter 2017.

News & Notes

Survive and Advance: A BOTM Extended Play Bottom of the Map podcast on NPR was chosen for an extended play.

Amy Sherald interview for Art Papers Live

Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching (2018)