Dr. Seth E. Davis is a scholar whose work engages Black queer rhetorics, literacy studies, and cultural production. He currently serves as an Assistant Professor of English and Communications at LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee.

 

Dr. Davis earned his Ph.D. in Composition and Cultural Rhetoric and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Women and Gender Studies from Syracuse University. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication and Theatre from Tennessee State University and a master’s degree in Communication Studies from Ball State University.

 

Dr. Davis’s research theorizes practices such as reading, shade, and pulling trade as “fierce literacies” that enable survival, self-fashioning, and cultural legibility within Black queer communities. His scholarship has been recognized with three National Council of Teachers of English Lavender Rhetorics Excellence in Queer Scholarship Awards. In Spring 2026, He received the LOC Theodore Roosevelt McLemore Excellence in Teaching award.  Dr. Davis is also host of the Black College Matters podcast, which is dedicated to celebrating, discussing, and advocating for Historically Black Colleges and the global experiences of Black students. Check out his latest article “Writing Memphis, Writing Williamson: Literacy Narrative as Recovery Practice” in the spring 2026 issue of Composition Studies.