Stefanie K. Dunning (she/her and they/them) is Professor of Black Studies and English at the University of Rochester and the Director of the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies. Dunning is the author of Queer in Black and White: Interracial and Same Sex Desire in African American Culture (Indiana, 2009) and Black to Nature: Pastoral Return and African American Culture (Mississippi, 2021) and has written numerous articles in journals and anthologies, from MELUS, African American Review, Studies in the Fantastic, and others. Dunning earned her BA in English from Spelman College and a PhD in English from the University of California, Riverside.

Dunning’s work has been supported by a Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, and during Dunning’s tenure at Miami University of Ohio, Dunning received several honors including being selected as a co-fellow of the Humanities Center program on Race and Racism, several teaching awards, and numerous teaching commendations. In 2005, Dunning was awarded the prize for the best 20th century literature essay of the year in African American Review. Dunning has also been featured on several podcasts, including Conversations in Atlantic Theory and A Correction: A podcast. Dunning also produces a podcast called Black to Nature: The podcast which is available on all major platforms.