I’m Matt Tettleton, a PhD Student and Graduate Instructor in Literature at the University of Colorado Boulder. My research concerns 20th and 21st century American literature and culture, with special emphases on protest writing, black writers of the U.S., and Native American/ Indigenous writers. As a cultural studies scholar, I explore intersections of race, ethnicity, class, and social justice with the world of sports. At times sport influences the world of literature and the discourses around these issues, and at times sport becomes the cultural text itself. My work in 2014, which relates Seattle Seahawks defensive back Richard Sherman’s outspoken beliefs on race in 21st century America to sport literature, social discourse, and television commentary about black athletes, was awarded the Sport Literature Association’s Lyle Olsen Graduate Student Essay prize and was published in Aethlon: The Journal of Sport Literature issue XXXI.1. I have also published a Master’s thesis entitled “Between These Lines: The Field of Play in Contemporary American Literature and Culture,” chaired by Dr. David Colón at Texas Christian University.

My current research centers around Black Lives Matter, African-American protest writing, and the places in which athletes enter cultural conversations about social justice movements. Looking specifically at the national anthem controversy started by Colin Kaepernick, I interrogate the way sports fans are conditioned to surveil and commoditize black bodies on the field of play, and the way athletes use their bodies and their voices to write against this trend.

Please feel free to explore my CV and teaching materials or read about the issues arising from my research in my blog.