Anita Patterson

Anita Patterson is Professor in the Department of English at Boston University. Her research focuses on American literature, modernism, and black poetry of the Americas, all of which are approached with an emphasis on transnational and intercultural dialogue. Her published works include the books From Emerson to King: Democracy, Race, and the Politics of Protest and Race, American Literature and Transnational Modernisms. In 2021 she contributed the chapter “Restoring Hope for the Humanities: Daisaku Ikeda, Intercultural Study, and College Classroom Experience” to the volume Hope and Joy in Education: Engaging Daisaku Ikeda Across Curriculum and Context. Her first appearance at the Center was as a speaker at the 2007 Ikeda Forum, “Women and the Power of Friendship.” Among other appearances, she spoke at the 2010 Ikeda Forum on “Developing the Democratic Spirit,” led the 2017 seminar “The Role of Literature in Times of Division,” shared opening remarks at the Creating Waldens book launch in 2009, participated in the Center’s 2019 experiment in dialogue, and moderated the 2023 Ikeda Forum on the power of literature.