Overview
Isaiah Washington is a PhD student in the Department of Literatures in English at Cornell University. A proud son of Baltimore, he possesses an intimate understanding of how the legacies of pool segregation have formed lane lines that separate generations of Black Americans not only from a positive relationship with the water but, most tragically, from their lives. He views literature and film as critical tools for disrupting racial disparities in swimming and drowning across the United States. Through his contemporary archive, featuring works by Louise Erdrich, Jesmyn Ward, Colson Whitehead, and Ocean Vuong, he aspires to render a multiracial reclamation of the water.
Isaiah graduated summa cum laude from American University in May 2023 with a B.A. in Literature. His work at American University was recognized with multiple honors, including the Harold Johnson Award, the Academic Achievement Award for Outstanding Achievement in Undergraduate Research, the Best Undergraduate Humanities Workshop Award, and the Literature Department’s Best Undergraduate Essay Award. He was also selected as the undergraduate commencement speaker for the College of Arts and Sciences.
In May 2025, Isaiah graduated summa cum laude from Georgetown University with an M.A. in English. He received the Exceptional Master’s Student At-Large Award and was nominated for the Graduate Student Teaching Assistant Award. His thesis foregrounds the theme of drowning in Haitian American author Edwidge Danticat’s bedewed oeuvre, examining the political implications of a recent shift in her adult fiction from memorializing drowning deaths to envisioning their prevention.
While at Georgetown University, he was involved with SWIMMING, a D.C. public art project by Monica Jahan Bose that bridges the history of swimming exclusion with the contemporary crisis of rising sea levels. He starred in the short film associated with the project, with his original poem serving as its opening. His work has been featured in the art gallery at the YMCA Anthony Bowen Branch and the Dear Body of Water exhibition at Georgetown University’s Lauinger Library.
Isaiah’s passion for storytelling opened a portal into the world of news, where he helped cover major events including the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the Olympics, and key Supreme Court rulings.
He hopes his deep penchants for research, volunteerism, college access, and teaching might, like water, cleanse, heal, and reflect.
Research Focus
- African American Literature
- Asian American Literature
- Caribbean Literature
- Comparative Race and Ethnicity Studies
- Contemporary Literature
- Ecocriticism
- Latinx Literature
- Maritime Literature
- Migration and Diaspora Studies
- Popular Culture