Dr. Aiesha Turman: Educator, writer, cultural producer, interdisciplinary scholar.

Quick Bits

Dr. Turman holds an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Humanities and Culture from The Union Institute & University, with certificates in Creative Writing and Women’s and Gender Studies.

Her dissertation, There’s Always Been an Afrofuture: Black Women’s Literature as Technology of Protest, explores the Black feminist literary lineage of Afrofuturism and reflects her broader inquiry into Black pasts as portals to Black futures.

She has taught English and Africana Studies at institutions across CUNY and SUNY, and is currently on faculty in the Writing & Critical Inquiry Program at the University at Albany (SUNY).

Story

Aiesha is an Afrofuturist ethnographer, educator, and scholar of Black speculative fiction. Her work bridges cultural memory, liberatory pedagogy, and visionary storytelling. With over two decades of experience in the classroom and beyond, she weaves together critical inquiry, artistic expression, and Black cultural traditions to create transformative learning experiences.

Her public and academic work spans multiple realms: she teaches courses on Black speculative fiction and African aesthetics, creates platforms for reflection like Legacy Weaver's Lab, and contributes to projects such as the the Emmy-nominated documentary Crip Camp and projects with the Zora Neale Hurston Trust.

As a writer, Aiesha merges scholarly depth with narrative intuition, often exploring themes of memory, identity, resistance, and possibility.

Rooted in lived experience—as a mother, scholar, and cultural worker—Aiesha is committed to building spaces of learning and reflection that honor both ancestral wisdom and radical futures.

A Final Note

Years ago, Aiesha shared part of her and her family’s story through a special StoryCorps initiative. That archive remains one of the many portals through which she holds memory and voice

Her first public storytelling work began more than a decade ago with the independent documentary The Black Girl Project. That film became the seed for a decade-long social action initiative by the same name, which ran through 2019. You can hear more from her in this archival interview recorded ahead of the premiere.