Tanya Shields is an Assistant Professor whose research revolves around the academic and the everyday. By exploring the intersections of the real and ideal, Dr. Shields challenges students to put their scholarly knowledge in conversation with issues beyond the classroom.

In Plantation Lullabies students explore the continuing legacy of the plantation; World Literature by Women, students engage with coming-of-age stories from around the world; while Spitting in the Wind: American Women, Art, and Activism interrogates the term "American" while looking at the intersections between art and activism. Rahtid Rebel Women: An Introduction to Caribbean Women is the class most related to Dr. Shields' research.  This class engages with the multiple dimensions of Caribbean women's lives in historical and contemporary contexts. In her research, Dr. Shields uses Caribbean feminist epistemology to explore the relationship between the imagination and Caribbean belonging.  Currently, Tanya Shields is completing her first book, Escape to El Dorado: Literature and Pan-Caribbean Citizenship.  Her other publications include articles on Pauline Melville, Rawle Gibbons, transnationalism, and the role of art in knowledge production and politics in Constructing Vernacular Culture in the Trans-Caribbean and Enculturation.  Dr. Shields also serves on the Board of Directors for Carivision, a Caribbean-centered theatre group. .