Penn State names first black woman laureate wouldn t you know it, she s Jamaican! jamaicaobserver.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jamaicaobserver.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
IMAGE: Courtesy of Shara McCallum
An annual faculty honor established in 2008, the Penn State Laureate is a full-time faculty member in the arts or humanities who is assigned half time for one academic year to bring greater visibility to the arts, humanities and the University, as well as to their own work. In this role, the laureate is a highly visible representative of the University, appearing at events and speaking engagements throughout the commonwealth.
McCallum succeeds 2020-21 Penn State Laureate David Witwer, professor of American studies in Penn State Harrisburg’s School of Humanities.
McCallum is a poet who has authored six books and has had poems and essays published in journals, anthologies and textbooks throughout the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and Israel. Her latest poetry collection, “No Ruined Stone” (slated for release this summer), is a verse sequence based on an alternate account of history and Scottish poet Robert Burns’ near-m