Sandra Adell is Professor Emerita in the Department of African American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she served as a literature professor from 2002 until her retirement in May 2025. Prior to becoming full professor, she was associate professor from 1995 to 2002 and assistant professor from 1989 to 1994, all in the same department. She holds a Ph.D. (1989) and M.A. (1986) in Comparative Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as a B.A. (1976) in French and English from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Adell is a faculty affiliate in Interdisciplinary Theatre Studies and has affiliations with African Cultural Studies and the Division of the Arts. Her academic specializations encompass Black literature, including African-American and Francophone traditions, modern narrative in English, French, and Spanish, Black women writers, literary theory and criticism, twentieth-century French literature and philosophy, African American dramatic literature and theater history, feminism, and African American and African diaspora theater history. She possesses near-native fluency in French, proficiency in Spanish, and beginning knowledge of Arabic.

Adell has authored key works such as Double Consciousness/Double Bind: Theoretical Issues in Twentieth-Century Black Literature (University of Illinois Press, 1994), Literary Masters: Toni Morrison (Manly Books, Inc., 2002), Confessions of a Slot Machine Queen: A Memoir (EugeniaBooks, 2010), and edited Contemporary Plays by African American Women: Ten Complete Plays (University of Illinois Press, 2015) and Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Culture: African American Culture (Gale Research, 1996), for which she contributed approximately 262 entries. Her peer-reviewed articles have appeared in American Literary History, CLA Journal, Journal of Caribbean Studies, Diacritics, and Comparative Literature Studies. She served as executive and volume editor for Continuum: The Journal of African Diaspora Drama, Theatre and Performance. Among her honors are the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award (2017), Evjue-Bascom Named Professor (2018–2023), UW-Madison Vilas Associates Award (2011–2013), and Gender and Women’s Studies Faculty Research Fellowship (Fall 2022). Adell has presented at conferences including the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and National Council for Black Studies, often on Black theater and women’s narratives of gambling addiction. Her current projects include And Then the Casinos Came: Black Women’s Narratives About Gambling, Addiction, Recovery (manuscript under review at University of Illinois Press) and adapting her memoir for the stage as a solo play.

Professional Email: saadell@wisc.edu