{"id":103680,"date":"2026-02-10T11:18:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T19:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sou.edu\/academics\/?p=103680"},"modified":"2026-02-10T11:18:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T19:18:46","slug":"baldwin-totally-blew-my-mind-kendall-dinniene-on-sou-graduate-study-and-teaching-literature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sou.edu\/academics\/baldwin-totally-blew-my-mind-kendall-dinniene-on-sou-graduate-study-and-teaching-literature\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cBaldwin Totally Blew My Mind\u201d: Kendall Dinniene on SOU, Graduate Study, and Teaching Literature"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-av_section-aadaa28f32c40473817b3967ca72d740\">\n.avia-section.av-av_section-aadaa28f32c40473817b3967ca72d740{\nbackground-color:#f3f3f3;\nbackground-image:unset;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div id='av_section_1' aria-label='SOU English Stories - Blog Roll Template - Intro Section' class='avia-section 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\/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-mlgz0fch-5eada06f7a4f2cf648882c7c0b068fcf\">\n#top .av-special-heading.av-mlgz0fch-5eada06f7a4f2cf648882c7c0b068fcf{\npadding-bottom:0;\nfont-size:28px;\n}\nbody .av-special-heading.av-mlgz0fch-5eada06f7a4f2cf648882c7c0b068fcf .av-special-heading-tag .heading-char{\nfont-size:25px;\n}\n#top #wrap_all .av-special-heading.av-mlgz0fch-5eada06f7a4f2cf648882c7c0b068fcf .av-special-heading-tag{\nfont-size:28px;\n}\n.av-special-heading.av-mlgz0fch-5eada06f7a4f2cf648882c7c0b068fcf .av-subheading{\nfont-size:18px;\n}\n\n@media only screen and (min-width: 480px) and (max-width: 767px){ \n#top #wrap_all .av-special-heading.av-mlgz0fch-5eada06f7a4f2cf648882c7c0b068fcf .av-special-heading-tag{\nfont-size:0.8em;\n}\n}\n\n@media only screen and (max-width: 479px){ \n#top #wrap_all .av-special-heading.av-mlgz0fch-5eada06f7a4f2cf648882c7c0b068fcf .av-special-heading-tag{\nfont-size:0.8em;\n}\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='av-special-heading av-mlgz0fch-5eada06f7a4f2cf648882c7c0b068fcf av-special-heading-h1 blockquote modern-quote  avia-builder-el-7  el_after_av_image  el_before_av_textblock  top-30 av-inherit-size av-linked-heading'><h1 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  ><span class='special_amp'>\u201c<\/span>Baldwin Totally Blew My Mind<span class='special_amp'>\u201d<\/span>: Kendall Dinniene on SOU, Graduate Study, and Teaching Literature<\/h1><div class=\"special-heading-border\"><div class=\"special-heading-inner-border\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-mlgz11ps-7eb69afd85a37f4014872921744ddab2\">\n#top .av_textblock_section.av-mlgz11ps-7eb69afd85a37f4014872921744ddab2 .avia_textblock{\nfont-size:12px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-mlgz11ps-7eb69afd85a37f4014872921744ddab2 '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p><em>By Nylah Winchester, senior English major<br \/>\nFebruary 10, 2026<br \/>\nPictured above: Kendall Dinniene<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-mlgz1a6f-70875e477567b290311e5f9df5392315\">\n#top .av_textblock_section.av-mlgz1a6f-70875e477567b290311e5f9df5392315 .avia_textblock{\nfont-size:15px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-mlgz1a6f-70875e477567b290311e5f9df5392315 '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p>In 2018, Kendall Dinniene graduated from 麻豆传媒女神 with a degree in <a href=\"\/academics\/english\/\">English<\/a>. While at SOU, she worked closely with Dr. Alma Rosa Alvarez and Dr. Diana Maltz, whose courses and mentorship played a key role in preparing her for graduate study in English at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. Kendall found SOU\u2019s small classes, which \u201cencouraged robust participation,\u201d and the \u201cwarm and supportive\u201d <a href=\"\/academics\/english\/faculty\/\">English faculty<\/a> integral in building confidence for success in graduate seminars. This environment prepared her to work closely with faculty in graduate school.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-mlgz2a0c-858e92e9a7a95b12b317e95066833866\">\n#top .av_textblock_section.av-mlgz2a0c-858e92e9a7a95b12b317e95066833866 .avia_textblock{\nfont-size:26px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-mlgz2a0c-858e92e9a7a95b12b317e95066833866 '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock rising-quote av_inherit_color'  itemprop=\"text\" ><blockquote>\n<p class=\"dig-4\" style=\"text-align: left\"><em><span class=\"amaze-ultra madrone\">\u201cBoth Alma and Diana modeled many of the teaching practices that I now use.<\/span> They are brilliant educators who treat students with real generosity, and I try to live up to their example in my own courses.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"pop-8\" style=\"font-size: 0.6em;text-align: right\">\u2013 Kendall Dinniene<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-mlgz2rsj-3f867cdab1951817261b7b682248113e\">\n#top .av_textblock_section.av-mlgz2rsj-3f867cdab1951817261b7b682248113e .avia_textblock{\nfont-size:15px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-mlgz2rsj-3f867cdab1951817261b7b682248113e '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p>One course in particular left a lasting impression. Kendall recalls that taking a class on James Baldwin \u201ctotally blew [her] mind,\u201d and eventually led her to write her senior capstone on <em>Giovanni\u2019s Room<\/em>\u2014a text she now teaches in her own courses. She also credits her experience as a teaching assistant with easing her transition into the classroom: \u201cAlma was kind enough to have me TA for her in my final semester, which made teaching a lot less scary!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Alvarez and Dr. Maltz\u2019s mentorship was very formative for Kendall. \u201cI can\u2019t say enough good things about Alma and Diana. What incredible professors and people!\u201d She further credits Dr. Maltz with shaping her development as a writer, explaining, \u201cI used to genuinely look forward to getting papers back from her covered in comments and advice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Graduate school, however, came with its own challenges. Kendall admits that \u201cThere\u2019s just no preparing for the avalanche of texts you have to read and understand in an English PhD program.\u201d Still, Kendall notes that practice and persistence made all the difference, especially when she encountered texts that prompted her to rethink how literature represents body weight.<\/p>\n<p>Kendall originally went into grad school planning to research queerness and disability in Chicana writing, but in her first year, she read two texts: Emily Eden\u2019s <em>Up the Country<\/em> and Arundhati Roy\u2019s <em>The God of Small Things<\/em>. These texts did things with body weight \u201cthat really intrigued [her].\u201d Yet, Kendall discovered that she could not find much scholarship within literary studies that helped her understand what she was seeing, which is how \u201cauthors use fatness to discuss race, gender, and national identity. For example, Eden uses fatness to figure nineteenth-century India as overly sensual, atavistic, and in need of British control, tacitly justifying colonialism and even empire-induced famine.\u201d Due to the lack of scholarship, Kendall\u2019s research led her to fat studies, an interdisciplinary field that \u201ccomplicates hegemonic ideas about fatness\u201d and examines how body weight is racialized.<\/p>\n<p>These studies inspired Kendall\u2019s dissertation, <em>The Fault of Our Forms: Fatness and Race in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century American Literature and Culture<\/em>. Body weight also motivates her current book project where she focuses on authors like Toni Morrison and Carmen Maria Machado: \u201cMy second book project will look at how my other primary subfield, Black feminist theory, has historically engaged with fatness, tracking specifically the fat politics of 20th-century Black feminist literature and activism.\u201d She further explains, \u201cAs a fat person deeply invested in ending anti-fatness and white supremacy, this work is meaningful on both an intellectual and a personal level.\u201d Fat studies is a rather new field, but Kendall believes that it offers \u201ca new set of analytical tools that can greatly benefit literary studies, as well as other fields.\u201d She hopes that more literary studies scholars will use these tools in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-mlgz3viw-ee0240d9d09a461a72f6e787a242ed1b\">\n#top .av_textblock_section.av-mlgz3viw-ee0240d9d09a461a72f6e787a242ed1b .avia_textblock{\nfont-size:26px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-mlgz3viw-ee0240d9d09a461a72f6e787a242ed1b '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock rising-quote av_inherit_color'  itemprop=\"text\" ><blockquote>\n<p class=\"dig-4\" style=\"text-align: left\"><em>\u201cI was so passionate about my argument and <span class=\"amaze-ultra madrone\">felt prepared by coursework and exams to commit it to paper.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"pop-8\" style=\"font-size: 0.6em;text-align: right\">\u2013 Kendall Dinniene<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-mlgz4a23-7537c74edb3122844baab75e4e7252fd\">\n#top .av_textblock_section.av-mlgz4a23-7537c74edb3122844baab75e4e7252fd .avia_textblock{\nfont-size:15px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-mlgz4a23-7537c74edb3122844baab75e4e7252fd '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p>Kendall\u2019s commitment to analyzing body weight also shapes her pedagogy. A few years ago, she specifically taught a class on representations of fatness in contemporary multi-ethnic US literature. Even her syllabi that \u201cdon\u2019t focus on critiquing hegemonic beliefs about body weight always incorporate those critiques.\u201d For instance, this term her students will \u201cthink critically about the racialization and (un)gendering of fatness as [they] read Audre Lorde\u2019s <em>Zami<\/em> and Emma Copley Eisenberg\u2019s <em>Housemates<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beyond course content, Kendall pays close attention to the physical classroom itself: \u201cThose tiny chairs with the desks attached that populate so many classrooms? They tell fat students that their presence in college is a surprise, and not necessarily a welcome one.\u201d She strives to create an inclusive learning space\u2014one of her core priorities as an instructor.<\/p>\n<p>Teaching remains one of the most rewarding parts of Kendall\u2019s career. She recently taught a \u201cvery fun\u201d class on the Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG). The students read <em>Daisy Miller<\/em>, <em>The Sun Also Rises<\/em>, <em>Passing<\/em>, <em>Sula<\/em>, and <em>Fight Club<\/em>, and they had a unit on film which included <em>Elizabethtown<\/em> and <em>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind<\/em>. \u201cThe main point of the class was to strengthen students\u2019 reading, writing, and critical thinking skills, and to do this we focused on the trope of the MPDG and what she can tell us about American society and cultural production.\u201d Her favorite part of the course was her students\u2019 video podcast episodes, in which they analyzed a film in small groups.<\/p>\n<p>Kendall recently joined Duke\u2019s Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies Department as a Postdoctoral Associate. In this role, she will help design the Institute, which connects Black feminist scholars worldwide. Kendall exclaims, \u201cIt\u2019s an important space dedicated to Black feminist thought and collaboration. I\u2019m most excited about meeting this summer\u2019s scholars, and about designing new ways to keep attendees in contact and support them as they graduate and begin their careers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-mlgz586o-2166db9a88cde25c8f9ee19d4c948aed\">\n#top .av_textblock_section.av-mlgz586o-2166db9a88cde25c8f9ee19d4c948aed .avia_textblock{\nfont-size:26px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-mlgz586o-2166db9a88cde25c8f9ee19d4c948aed '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock rising-quote av_inherit_color'  itemprop=\"text\" ><blockquote>\n<p class=\"dig-4\" style=\"text-align: left\"><em>\u201cI think my favorite moments are when<span class=\"amaze-ultra madrone\"> a student says something that makes me think about a text in new ways.<\/span> That\u2019s very exciting!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"pop-8\" style=\"font-size: 0.6em;text-align: right\">\u2013 Kendall Dinniene<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-mlgz67rk-a337c623438f7ddadc93e871eaaec875\">\n#top .av_textblock_section.av-mlgz67rk-a337c623438f7ddadc93e871eaaec875 .avia_textblock{\nfont-size:15px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-mlgz67rk-a337c623438f7ddadc93e871eaaec875 '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p>Kendall advises students considering graduate school to do their homework; she emphasizes that picking the right institution requires time and effort: \u201cYou want to apply to programs that have multiple faculty members who can support your research, and there\u2019s just no shortcut to figuring that out.\u201d She urges students to \u201cthink about the financial support a program offers beyond the stipend. Conferencing, research travel, publishing, these are all things that you just have to do as a PhD student if you want to find a job in academia (they\u2019re also really fun!), and they take material and other forms of support.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kendall\u2019s story demonstrates what thoughtful mentorship, rigorous study, and intellectual courage achieve\u2014and of how SOU\u2019s <a href=\"\/academics\/english\/\">English Program<\/a> shapes scholars who transform the field of English; I hope we all strive to be more like Kendall Dinniene!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-av_hr-ad5cef2ff851594f50acb04d800703c3\">\n#top .hr.av-av_hr-ad5cef2ff851594f50acb04d800703c3{\nmargin-top:0;\nmargin-bottom:20px;\n}\n.hr.av-av_hr-ad5cef2ff851594f50acb04d800703c3 .hr-inner{\nwidth:100%;\nmax-width:45%;\n}\n.hr.av-av_hr-ad5cef2ff851594f50acb04d800703c3 .av-seperator-icon{\ncolor:#d31d22;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='hr av-av_hr-ad5cef2ff851594f50acb04d800703c3 hr-custom  avia-builder-el-16  el_after_av_textblock  el_before_av_textblock  hr-center hr-icon-yes'><span class='hr-inner inner-border-av-border-thin'><span class=\"hr-inner-style\"><\/span><\/span><span class='av-seperator-icon' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue837' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/span><span class='hr-inner inner-border-av-border-thin'><span class=\"hr-inner-style\"><\/span><\/span><\/div><br \/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-av_textblock-533f7fd47ffc4d18b41bd69d67497910\">\n#top .av_textblock_section.av-av_textblock-533f7fd47ffc4d18b41bd69d67497910 .avia_textblock{\nfont-size:15px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-av_textblock-533f7fd47ffc4d18b41bd69d67497910 '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p>You can stay up-to-date with all of the exciting things happening in our department by following the English Program on Instagram (souenglish) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SOUEnglishProgram\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> and by <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSdB-YJRDHj3QYJJkUw4TuSh2eYZGSXo7GW60qGcOGUj2wLAWw\/viewform?vc=0&amp;c=0&amp;w=1&amp;flr=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">subscribing to this blog<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p>Interested in being featured on the English Program blog? Or know someone who is interested? Contact English Program blogger Nylah Winchester-Robinson at <a href=\"mailto:winchesterrobinsonn@sou.edu\">winchesterrobinsonn@sou.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"heavy=man\">Learn more about SOU&#8217;s English Programs:<\/span><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/sou.edu\/academics\/english\/\">English Home Page<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/sou.edu\/academics\/english\/programs\/english-ba\/\">English BA\/BS<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/sou.edu\/academics\/english\/programs\/english-minor\/\">English Minor<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/sou.edu\/academics\/english\/programs\/teaching-english-to-speakers-of-other-languages\/\">TESOL Certificate Program<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-av_hr-59c1db2e1279e788f6e589c460a48bf2\">\n#top .hr.av-av_hr-59c1db2e1279e788f6e589c460a48bf2{\nmargin-top:0;\nmargin-bottom:20px;\n}\n.hr.av-av_hr-59c1db2e1279e788f6e589c460a48bf2 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MORE<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":103682,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[296,284],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","category-featured","post_format-post-format-aside"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v26.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u201cBaldwin Totally Blew My Mind\u201d: Kendall Dinniene on SOU, Graduate Study, and Teaching Literature - SOU Academic Programs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SOU English Alum and English Ph.D., Kendall Dinniene, reflects on how mentorship and coursework prepared her for graduate study and teaching.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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