Hello everyone! My name is Harry Foster, and I’m thrilled to join the Cultural Heritage Informatics Fellowship community. I’m a third-year PhD student in the English Department at Michigan State University, where I study African American literature with a focus on the evolution of the Black badman archetype.
From Community College to Digital Humanities
My journey into this research actually began at Saddleback College in Southern California, where I first encountered Hobie Brown’s version of The Prowler, Spider-Man’s first Black supervillain. Something about his character struck me as paradoxical. Here was a brilliant Black engineer whose legitimate talents were dismissed by white authority figures, leading him to use those same talents outside the law. More than that, he viewed The Prowler identity as villainous but his regular identity as heroic. I presented on Hobie at community college conferences, and that initial fascination grew into my Columbia University senior thesis, where I explored how his character embodied larger patterns in Black heroic narratives.
That early work on Hobie Brown opened my eyes to a much broader tradition. I began to see how his story—a talented individual forced into antagonistic roles by systemic oppression—connected to a long genealogy of Black badman figures stretching from post-emancipation folk heroes like Stagolee through contemporary superheroes and supervillains. What started as an analysis of one comic book character evolved into my current dissertation project tracing 160 years of Black masculine heroism across American cultural production.
The Evolution of My Research
My research now examines how the Black badman archetype has transformed from folk hero to superhero/supervillain, tracking how these figures reflect shifting modes of Black resistance and cultural expression. He was born in oral traditions that preserved community wisdom before transforming in detective fiction that navigated urban dangers. He then became political revolutionary figure before transitioning to the more jaded gangsta-pimp figure navigating complex negotiations with American capitalism, and finally to the superhero and supervillain narratives that literalize Black power in fantastic forms. Each iteration responds to specific historical pressures while maintaining core functions of cultural preservation and resistance.
This work sits at the intersection of literary studies, cultural studies, and media studies. Through my involvement with the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship at Columbia and now as a English PhD student, I’ve learned that understanding these cultural narratives requires more than traditional academic methods. When you’re tracking figures who move across time, space, and different media platforms, you need tools that can visualize and make accessible these complex relationships.
Why Digital Methods Matter to Me
The Digital Humanities Methods Seminar at MSU this past spring showed me how digital tools could illuminate patterns in cultural transmission that traditional scholarship might miss. More importantly, these methods offer ways to make academic insights accessible to the communities whose stories we study. My research isn’t just about tracing literary genealogies—it’s about understanding how Black communities have used narrative to theorize their own survival and resistance.
I’m pursuing this fellowship for two interconnected reasons. First, developing digital capabilities will strengthen my profile for the academic job market, where the ability to create innovative digital projects is increasingly valued. But beyond professional development, I’m drawn to digital storytelling because it offers better ways to honor the complexity of these cultural narratives.
The Badman Evolution Project
For my CHI project, I envision creating “Badman Evolution: An Interactive Digital Archive and Timeline.” This platform would map the Black badman’s transformation across historical contexts and media forms specifically in Detroit, building on the foundation of my earlier Hobie Brown research to encompass the entire tradition. My ultimate vision of the archive would incorporate:
* interactive timelines showing how figures evolve across periods
* Geographic mapping of narrative transmission and local variations
* Multimedia elements including oral recordings, literary texts, comic panels, and film clips
* Community contribution features allowing for ongoing cultural documentation
* Scholarly analysis tools for researchers and students
This project is about more than preserving cultural artifacts. It’s about creating a living resource that returns control and transmission of heroic cultural narratives and production to the communities that most need them.
Skills and Community
I bring to the fellowship years of research into Black cultural narratives, interdisciplinary training across literary and cultural studies, and experience making scholarship accessible through my teaching work. Through CHI, I hope to develop the technical skills—web development, database design, digital mapping, visualization techniques—needed to translate these insights into interactive digital experiences.
What excites me most is joining a community of scholars committed to thoughtful applications of technology to cultural heritage questions. The collaborative environment, with weekly meetings and shared workspace, promises the kind of exchange that sparks innovation and prevents burnout.
Looking Forward
My path from analyzing one comic book character to tracing an entire tradition of Black heroism has taught me that cultural narratives rarely follow straight lines. They loop back, branch out, and transform in unexpected ways. Digital methods offer tools to capture this complexity while keeping these stories accessible to the communities who created them. I’m eager to contribute to our collective work this semester, learning from each of you while developing a project that honors both the scholarly rigor and community rootedness that define the best cultural heritage work. Looking forward to our collaboration!
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