Tyrik LaCruise

Born and raised in the Bronx, Tyrik LaCruise works at the intersection of legal and cultural studies, with his current project focusing on grief, entertainment, and discursive change in the Long Civil Rights Era. Examining the live performance work of Nina Simone and her contemporaries as argumentative entries in America’s social and legal debates, this project draws new attention to the interventionist capacity of First Amendment performance and speech genrally, as well as the central role such interventionist speech plays in resolving Constitutional contestations and in empowering those ostensibly un-empowered. 

Before beginning his PhD in Modern Thought and Literature, Tyrik graduated  from Stanford Law School with a JD/Masters in Education (2020), and from Harvard College, Cum Laude in History and Literature with a Focus in American Studies and a Secondary Field in African and African American Studies (2017). Outside of work Tyrik enjoys rock climbing, writing poetry, and spending time with his dog Ignatius.