F or over twenty years, Elizabeth Alexander has taught and mentored students at some of the nation’s most well-respected colleges and universities including Haverford College, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, and Smith College. At the University of Chicago, she received the Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the oldest and most prestigious teaching award that the University presents. In addition to her work at colleges and universities, Elizabeth Alexander has taught numerous poetry workshops. Most significantly, serving as both faculty and honorary director, Alexander has been an integral member of Cave Canem, an organization dedicated to the development and endurance of African American poetic voices.

At her current institutional home, Yale University, Elizabeth Alexander is both the Thomas E. Donnelley Professor of African American Studies and the chair of the African American Studies Department. Yale’s President Richard Levin also selected Elizabeth Alexander to deliver the Spring 2012 DeVane Lectures, which is considered a major honor for Yale faculty. She is currently teaching the new class “African American Art Today,” which is open to the public.

• For more information about this year’s DeVane lecture series at Yale, read the press release issued by the Office of Public Affairs & Communications.

• For more information about Professor Alexander’s university teaching and African American Studies at Yale, visit the website for African American Studies at Yale.

• For information about Cave Canem, an organization aimed at cultivating the voices of African American poetry, please visit their website.