Neal A. Lester
Department Chair
Professor

Dr. Neal A. Lester, Chair of the Department of English, has been a professor of English at Arizona State University since the fall of 1997.  His area of specialization is African American literary and cultural studies.  Dr. Lester earned his B.A. in English from State University of West Georgia and his M.A. and Ph.D. in English at Vanderbilt University. He has published on and taught courses in African American children's literature, African American drama, African American folklore, African American images in American cinema, and black/ white interracial intimacies in American culture.

The author of Ntozake Shange: A Critical Study of the Plays (1995) and Understanding Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (1999), Dr. Lester has also published, lectured, and taught extensively in the area of African American children's literature. He has published on personal ads as African American biography and autobiography; black masculinities; African American homoeroticism; neo-slave narratives; parental (il)literacy in children's literature; the absence of the word "nigger" in contemporary African American children's texts; African American female sexuality; interracial intimacies in American popular music; African American womanist theory; and on the gender and race politics of African Americans and hair.  His study of heterosexism in children's texts appears in the summer 2007 issue of the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Issues in Education: An International Quarterly Devoted to Research, Policy and Practice (volume 4, number 2, pages 55-74). His essay on Toni Morrison’s children’s books as adult primers is forthcoming in The Journal of African American Children’s Literature. His book, Once Upon a Time in a Different World: Issues and Ideas in African American Children’s Literature (2007), is a collection of Dr. Lester's published and new essays in children's literature with scholars, critics, and lay persons responding each to a different essay and creating a threaded conversation about identity, gender, sexuality and race. This collection is part of the “Children’s Literature and Culture” Series. He has also completed a co-edited collection of essays on the intersection of race, gender and sexuality in personal ads. This collection, Racialized Politics of Desire in Personal Ads  (Rowman and Littlefield/ Lexington Books, 2008).

A much sought-after speaker and discussion facilitator, Dr. Lester has an extensive record of publications, lectures, editorships, and public interviews. Over the course of his twenty-year professional career, Dr. Lester has received numerous teaching awards and recognitions, including Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award (1993), Distinguished Teaching Fellow Award (1996), and "Distinguished Finalist" for the Professor of the Year (2001). In 2001, Dr. Lester was named "Distinguished Public Scholar" by the Arizona Humanities Council, for his work both inside and outside the classroom. Dr. Lester was a recipient of the "Last Lecture" Award (2002), the Arizona State University Parents Association Professor of the Year (2003), the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Bebbling Family Dean's Distinguished Professorship (2004), and Foundation Professor (2007).

Dr. Lester in the news:

4/14/08 Ahwatukee Foothills News. "Barack Obama: Givin’ us plenty to talk about" by Neal A. Lester

4/09/08 The Jackson Herald. "Barack Obama: Givin’ us plenty to talk about" by Neal A. Lester

3/23/08 The Arizona Republic. "'Mockingbird' takes wing" by Kerry Lengel

12/20/07 The Mesa Republic. "Crow's class-size order yields better writing students" by Neal A. Lester and Greg Glau

10/16/07 Ahwatukee Foothills News. "Foothills author looks critically at children’s lit" by Jason Ludwig

5/17/07 College of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Sichuan University (Chengdu, China). "Dr. Lester’s Series of Lectures on African American Literature in Our College" Translation (Word)

5/17/07 College of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Sichuan University (Chengdu, China). "Sparkling Sayings and Bursting Passion" Translation (Word)

4/12/07 Associated Press. "'Nappy' Has Long, Hurtful History" by Deepti Hajela.

3/13/07 Columbia News Service. "Parents divided on using hair relaxers on young black girls" By Erline Andrews.

4/6/06 ASU Insight. "Distinguished Teaching Academy promotes teaching excellence at ASU" by Sarah Auffret.

12/1/05 State Press. "Locks: Hair Raising, There's a reason you cry into your pillow after a bad haircut" by Mani O'Brien.

11/16/05 State Press. "The 'mane' event: Hair helps define cultural identities, prof says" (PDF) by Amanda Gonser.

10/7/2005 ASU English Department Feature. Neal Lester Reading Boston King’s Memoirs

10/2/05 Baltimore Sun. "Natural, and loving it: More and more are ‘happy to be nappy’"

9/07/05 KAET. Review of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.

8/22/05 ASU Insight Video Archive. " Professor explores hair’s cultural implications for African-Americans"
Part 1 (Windows Media Player) (Quicktime)
Part 2 (Windows Media Player) (Quicktime)

8/5/05 ASU Insight 25.3 “ASU’s Lester Explores Societal Norms about Hair,” (PDF) by Sharon Keeler.

8/02/05 ASU Web story "Professor explores hair’s cultural implications for African-Americans"

7/6/05 Sacramento Bee. “The Culture of Beauty: ‘Hair Stories’ Exhibit Examines the Link between Styles and Racial Identity” (ASU network only) by Fahizah Alim.

Sp/Autumn 2005 Legacy: African American Studies Newsletter (Arizona State University). "HairStories, Expressions through Hair" (PDF) By Kimberlyn Keaton page 9.

Sp/Sum 2005 CLAS: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences News (Research News Briefs) “Research Examines Hair as Unifying Experience.” (PDF)

3/3/05 ASU News. "ASU Watches a Literary Classic Hit the Small Screen: Oprah’s Presentation of Hurston Literary Classic a Teaching Moment for ASU" by James Hathaway.

2/26/05 Phoenix New Times. “The New Racism: Nothing’s Black and White at Millennium High School” by Paul Kix.

2/16/05 Arizona Informant. "Dr. Lester Gives Roosevelt Students Something to Talk About" (PDF) by Dr. Mike Flemister

Spring/Summer 2004 CLAS News. Neal Lester Named Bebbling Family Dean’s Distinguished Professor (PDF)

Fall/Winter 2003/2004 Family Connection. "Dr. Neal Lester: Professor of the Year" (PDF)

Spring 2003 Legacy: African American Studies Newsletter (Arizona State University). "Spike Lee's Bamboozled: Looking Back to See Now" (PDF) by Patricia Escarcega

Spring 2003 Legacy: African American Studies Newsletter (Arizona State University). "Experiencing Diversity On and Off Campus " (PDF) by Lisa Rodrigue

4/17/2003 State Press. "Lester named professor of year: Teaches students by challenging ideas, breaking stereotypes" (State Press Log-in Required) by Lynh Bui

4/9/2003 State Press. "Parents, students honor select professors with cash awards, Teaching excellence at ASU rewarded" (State Press Log-in Required) by Lynh Bui

1/25/03 ASU Photogallery. "Praise for a Job Well Done"

4/10/2002 State Press. "Favorite profs perform in Last Lecture Series" (State Press Log-in Required) by Terry O’Reilly

4/5/2002 ASU INSIGHT “Students Select Three Professors to deliver Last Lectures.” page 2. (PDF)

3/28/2002 State Press. “Poetry Month Celebrates Langston Hughes,” (State Press Log-in Required) by Jennifer Ballesteros.

2/5/2002 State Press. “Overcome Ignorance by Understanding Diversity,” (State Press Log-in Required) by Rosie McSweeny.

September 2001 Arizona Insight: Newsletter of the Arizona Humanities Council. "People Feature" (PDF)

Spring 2001 Legacy: African American Studies Newsletter (Arizona State University). "Moistening the Desert Landscape: An African American in Arizona" (PDF)

2/19/99 State Press. “Effects of Slavery Still Haunt African-American Culture,” by June D. Wilhite.

1/99 The English Journal, Vol. 88, No. 3, Genderizing the Curriculum. (Jan., 1999) "Young Adult Literature: 1997 Honor List: An Unlikely Assortment of Heroes" by Ken Donelson & Alleen Pace Nilsen (page 5).

11/4/98 State Press. “New Class to Focus on Kids’ Books that aren’t Anglo-centric,” by Hayley Ringle.

2/18/98 State Press. “Shattering Black Stereotypes: English Professor’s Mission” by Ally Asher.

1/22/98 State Press. “Awareness Stressed at MLK Forum,” by Ally Asher.