personal photo of Dr. Sara Gallagher

Dr. Sara Gallagher

Tagline:Author of Black Wests: Reshaping Race and Place in Popular Culture (OUP, 2025).

Toronto, ON, Canada

About Me

I am a scholar and instructor specializing in the history, literature, and cultural representation of the American West and Midwest. I teach courses in Composition, Technical Writing, and Literature at Durham College in Canada. My research explores Black Western history, Black homesteading, and the intersection of race, space, and cultural identity in popular media.

My forthcoming book, Black Wests: Reshaping Race and Place in Popular Culture (University of Oklahoma Press, Spring 2025), examines how Black Americans have reshaped narratives of the West across literature, film, and historical memory. I am also developing an edited collection on Black Americans in the Midwest, with a focus on migration, homesteading, and cultural production.

I earned my PhD from the University of Waterloo in 2022 and have presented my research at leading conferences, including the Western History Association and the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature. My work contributes to broader conversations on race, regional identity, and historical representation in American studies.

Aside from my academic interests, I am also an avid lover of jazz music!

Education

  • PhD

    from: 2014, until: 2021

    Field of study:English LiteratureSchool:University of WaterlooLocation:Waterloo, Canada

    Description

    Completed my PhD with a focus on African American literature and history in the American West. Secondary focus include digital arts and media.

  • M.A.

    from: 2012, until: 2014

    Field of study:Public TextsSchool:Trent UniversityLocation:Peterborough, Canada

    Description

    Completed my M.A. on Cold War literature and the birth of the Beat Generation.

  • B.A.

    from: 2008, until: 2012

    Field of study:English Literature (Major), Culture Studies (Minor)School:Trent UniversityLocation:Peterborough, Canada

    Description

    Completed my honours B.A. with a focus on American Literature and poetry.

Research Interests

  • The American West
  • African American Literature
  • American Regionalism
  • Place Studies

Publications

  • Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s Pedagogical Rhetoric: Moral Suasion, Resistance, and Reform [under review]

    Journal ArticlePublisher:TBDDate:unpublished
    Authors:
    Description:

    Forthcoming article on Frances Harper’s poetry and prose and its use of rhetorical pedagogy.

  • Black Wests: Reshaping Race and Place in Popular Culture

    ManuscriptPublisher:University of Oklahoma PressDate:2025
    Authors:
    Description:

    This book explores how Black presence in the West has reshaped understandings of race, place, and identity across media and historical narratives.

  • “Oscar Micheaux and the South Dakota Frontier in Print and Cinema”

    Journal ArticlePublisher:South Dakota Historical Society PressDate:2022
    Authors:
    Description:

    Discusses the history and relevance of Oscar Micheaux, his print and cinema, and its impact on representations of the American West.

  • Race, Region, and Midwestern Identity in Era Bell Thompson’s American Daughter and Africa, Land of My Fathers

    Journal ArticlePublisher:Great Plains QuarterlyDate:2021
    Authors:
    Description:

    Explores the life and writings of Era Bell Thompson, a Black female homesteader from North Dakota.