WASHINGTON – Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has appointed Natalie Hopkinson, Ph.D., to the DC Arts and Humanities Commission. Hopkinson is an assistant professor in the Howard University Department of Communication, Culture and Media Studies within the Cathy Hughes School of Communications.

“I am so grateful to Mayor Bowser for the opportunity to serve this institution that is so critical to the future of the cultural fabric of D.C. I look forward to getting down to the serious work of sparking creativity across the city,” said Hopkinson.    

Hopkinson is an award-winning essayist and critical-cultural scholar. She is also a fellow at the Interactivity Foundation. Her work focuses on cultural identity, cities and diaspora, postcolonial history, gender, and media. 

Hopkinson has authored three books on culture: Deconstructing Tyrone (co-authored with Natalie Y. Moore, Cleis Press, 2006); Go-Go Live (Duke University Press, 2012), which SPIN magazine named a top-10 book on music in 2012; and A Mouth is Always Muzzled: Six Dissidents, Five Continents and the Art of Resistance (2018, The New Press).

The Commission is an independent agency in the District of Columbia government that evaluates and initiates action on matters relating to the arts and humanities and encourages the development of programs that promote progress in the arts and humanities.

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(Hopkinson pictured with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser taken during the swearing-in ceremony in January 2020 - Photos courtesy of the Mayor's Office)

About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced one Schwarzman Scholar, three Marshall Scholars, four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, 25 Pickering Fellows and more than 70 Fulbright Scholars. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu

Media Contact: Imani Pope-Johns, Imani.popejohns@howard.edu