Dr. Ikea Johnson

Areas of Expertise

• Comparative literature

Education

• B.A. in English, Auburn University at Montgomery (2016)
• M.A. in English and cultural studies, Auburn University at Montgomery (2018)
• Ph.D. in comparative literature, Louisiana State University (2022)

View My CV

What's My Why?

I use SIEL—Statement, Illustration, Explanation, Link—to teach students how to read closely and argue with precision, whether we’re in Harlem Renaissance poetry or Yoruba Ifá texts. My courses range from Green Romanticism and the Inklings to African American and Afrofuturist literature. Sometimes, I like showing students the unexpected links between them. Salve’s small classes let me keep instruction student-centered rather than lecture-heavy, so students do the thinking and the talking, not just receive it.

Professional Experience

In addition to my role at Salve, I serve as Executive Editor of the Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, where I oversee peer review and editorial direction for scholarship in comparative literature and aesthetics. I also serve as a peer reviewer for MELUS and Contemporary Women’s Writing (Oxford University Press). My research and teaching focus on African American literature, Afrofuturism, Kemetic and Buddhist philosophy, and paraontology, and I’ve built courses like Harlem Renaissance and Myth & Symbol around a decolonial, close-reading-centered pedagogy. My scholarship has appeared in the Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics and in an edited Routledge collection, and my monograph on Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, Kemetic philosophy, and Black spirituality is forthcoming from Palgrave Macmillan. I’m also active in Newport’s literary community, having delivered a public lecture on Langston Hughes to an audience of over 500 at RISD.

Selected Publications

Black Spirituality and Kemetic Philosophy in Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man": The Underground of History. American Literature Readings in the 21st Century series, ed. Linda Wagner-Martin. Palgrave Macmillan. Due 6 February 2027. ISBN 978-3-032-40049-9

"The Dialectics of Nonviolence: Buddhist Empathy and African American Liberation Thought." Dialogues of the Heart: Daisaku Ikeda, Transnationalism, and American Literature, ed. Anita H. Patterson. Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue. 2026

"Convergence of Consciousness: 'Binti' and the Synthesis of Hybrid Identities in AI." Beyond the Turing Test: What Science Fiction Can Teach Us About Artificial Intelligence. Routledge. 2026

"Oceanic Memory; Afrofuturist Reimagining: Exploring Black Identity as a Passage Through Literature and State." Motif Magazine. 2025

"On Compassion and the Sublime Black Body: Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower." Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics 43.2: 92+. 2020