Patricia Davis researches in the area of cultural studies, with a particular interest in the mechanics of public memory.  Her dissertation examined how participants in Civil War reenactments accounted for their own public performances. Her work is more widely concerned with memory and heritage studies, race and representation, visual culture, critical gender studies, and popular culture.

Dr. Davis earned her B.A. in marketing at Howard University, and her M.A. in rhetoric at the Ohio State University.  An essay on the film “Birth of a Nation” is forthcoming in a Purdue University Press volume.  She has received support for her research from the Ford Foundation, the Virginia Historical Society, and the American Studies Association.

For the 2009-2010 academic year, Dr. Davis accepted a one year faculty fellowship connected to the cultural studies program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Her teaching record includes stints at Morris Brown College, Kennesaw State University, the State University of West Georgia, and Clark Atlanta University.