Elon faculty present at the American Association for Blacks in Higher Education conference

Advisory members for the African and African-American Studies program at Elon facilitated two highly attended panel discussions at the Annual American Association for Blacks in Higher Education conference held March 23-25 in Raleigh, N.C.

The conference is one of the oldest and premier professional development organizations dedicated to the advancement of black faculty and staff in higher education. Its focus is on supporting future, current and retired academics.

Associate Professor of Psychology and Coordinator of AAASE Buffie Longmire-Avital organized and facilitated an interactive panel reflecting on the established best practices for engaging black students in undergraduate research and how to contextualize these findings from both institutional and discipline perspectives.

Presenters in addition to Longmire-Avital included Assistant Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies Damion Blake, who shared his experience with embedding research in the classroom setting, and Assistant Professor of Education Cherrel Miller-Dyce, who shared her experience with crafting community-based and service-oriented research opportunities for black students.

Participants in this session were asked to consider: (1) How undergraduate research is valued at their institutions and for career development; (2) What factors facilitate and support historically underrepresented minority students, specifically the participation of black students in undergraduate research; (3) What are the often cited challenges and barriers for black student participation in undergraduate research? Finally, (4) what are the expectations for black faculty in regard to the mentorship of Black students in undergraduate research?

Miller-Dyce, who is also faculty fellow to the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education, organized and facilitated the second interactive panel and workshop using an autoethnographic framework to illustrate how the experience and navigation of space by black female faculty at predominately white institutions is a transformative form of social justice.

Presenters, in addition to Miller-Dyce included Longmire-Avital, Human Service Studies Lecturer Sandra Reid and Assistant Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies Jessica Carew. Participants attending this session were given strategies for embarking on the journey through the academy as a faculty member or administrator, preparing for tenure and promotion, promoting self-care while advocating for social justice, and remaining connected to the black experience on campus and in the community.