Othered but Unbothered: Agentic and inclusive narratives of Black Professors in US higher education

Carolyn Walcott

doi:10.29333/ejecs/2088

Authors

Carolyn Walcott Clayton State University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1388-7870

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/2088

Keywords:

African American, African, Afro–Caribbean, Experiences, Professor, Race

Abstract

Black professors across US university campuses continue to navigate race–based and other forms of discrimination. This research paper argues that as a collective, African American, Afro–Caribbean and African professors experience discrimination at the intersection of their race, gender and nationality. To build my argument, I engage in conversations with ten professors from the Black Diaspora to elevate their stories of dialectical tensions, and racial and cultural stereotypes they confront and negotiate, while maintaining agency and creating safe spaces for inclusive and transformative teaching and learning in their classrooms. Using critical race theory and race–based essentialism to ground my work, I also engage in ethnography to illustrate the transformative role of intercultural pedagogy in dismantling essentialist misperceptions and simultaneously transforming the way students interact with and include others in society.

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Author Biography

Carolyn Walcott, Clayton State University

Dr. Carolyn Walcott is a media and communications scholar with a diverse background in journalism education, international communication, and media development. Her research interests reside at the intersection of identity, political communication, and media practice. She is an Assistant Professor of Media and Communication Studies in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Clayton State University. Among the courses she teaches are Intercultural Communication and Media & Culture, and Media Law, Ethics & Diversity. Dr. Walcott is currently Vice Head of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Commission on the Status of Minorities.

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