Curriculum Vitae

SHANNA GREENE BENJAMIN

 

INDEPENDENT SCHOLAR

Ph.D. English, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2002

M.A. Afro-American Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1996

B.A. English, Johnson C. Smith University, 1994 Valedictorian

 

Mail: 8811 Billy Smith Lane, Mint Hill, NC  28227

Phone: 704.806.3283              E-mail: sgbenjamin29@gmail.com

 

PROFESSIONAL ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

• Professor of English, Grinnell College, 2019-2020

• Associate Professor of English, Grinnell College, 2014-2019

• Associate Dean of the College, Grinnell College, 2016-2018

• Assistant Professor of English, Grinnell College, 2008-2014

• Honors College Director, Johnson C. Smith University, 2005-2008

• Visiting Assistant Professor of English, Davidson College, 2003-2004

• Assistant Professor of English, Johnson C. Smith University, 2002-2008

• Instructor of English, Johnson C. Smith University, 1998-2002

​

 

FELLOWSHIPS, HONORS, AND AWARDS

• Howard Foundation Fellowship (awarded 2019; start date 2020)

• Inez Moore Parker Fellow, Johnson C. Smith University, 2019-2020

• ACLS Fellowship, 2019-2020

• Award for Excellence in Service to Students and Student Affairs, Grinnell College, 2018

• Council of Independent Colleges Senior Leadership Academy, 2017-2018

• HERS Leadership Institute: Wellesley, MA 2015-2016

• American Association of University Women (AAUW) Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2011-2012

• National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend, 2011

• Obermann Center for Advanced Studies Scholar in Residence (University of Iowa), 2011, 2016

• John Hope Franklin Collection (Duke University) Travel Grant, 2010

• Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, 2001-2002

• National Endowment for the Humanities Faculty Graduate Study Grant, 2000-2001

​

 

ACADEMIC AREAS OF INTEREST AND ADMINISTRATIVE AREAS OF EXPERTISE 

• African American literature from the beginnings to the present, black feminist thought, auto/biography, genre studies (the black sonnet and African American short story), black women and wellness, the first-year experience, academic advising, inclusive teaching, diversity and achievement, black women in academic leadership, undergraduate research, pedagogy, mentoring and faculty development, Ph.D. pipelines for underrepresented students, advising in the liberal arts.

​

 

​

BOOK

Half in Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay. Chapel Hill: UNC Press. Forthcoming Spring 2021.

​

​

 

ESSAYS AND REVIEWS

“The Uses of Anger: Wanda Coleman’s Poetry of Black Rage and #blacklivesmatter.” Hecate: An

Interdisciplinary Journal of Women’s Liberation. 40.1 (2014): 58-79. Rpt. in More Than Our Pain:

Affect and Emotion in the Black Lives Matter Movement. Ed. Beth Hinderliter. Albany: SUNY P.

Forthcoming. 

“Black Women and the Biographical Method: Undergraduate Research and Life Writing.” a/b:

Auto/Biography Studies. 32.1 (2017): 15-26.

Benjamin, Donovan, and Moody. “Sacrifices, Sisterhood, and Success in the Ivory Tower.” CLA Journal.

60.1(2016): 84-92.

“Intimacy and Ephemera: In Search of Our Mother’s Letters.” MELUS 40.3 (2015): 16-27. 

“Pedagogy of the Post-Racial: The Texts, Textiles and Teachings of African American Women.” Palimpsest:

A Journal on Women, Gender and the Black International. 4.1 (2015): 24-50.

“The Uses of Anger: Wanda Coleman and the Poetry of Black Rage.” Hecate: An Interdisciplinary Journal of

Women’s Liberation. 40.1 (2014): 58-79.

“There’s Something about Mary: Female Wisdom and the Folk Presence in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man.”

Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism. 12.1 (2014): 121-148.

 “The Space that Race Creates: An Interstitial Analysis of Toni Morrison’s ‘Recitatif’.” Studies in American

Fiction. 40.1 (2013): 87-106.

“Race, Faces, and False Fronts: Shakespearean Signifying in the Colored American Magazine.” African American

Review. 43.4 (2009): 621-31. 

“A Trickster in Transition: Nineteenth-Century Representations of Aunt Nancy.” Loopholes and Retreats:

African American Writers and the Nineteenth Century. Ed. John Cullen Gruesser and Hanna Wallinger.

Wien: LIT Verlag, 2009. 43-57.

“Breaking the Whole Thing Open: An Interview with Nellie Y. McKay.”  PMLA 121.5 (2006): 1678-1681.

“Nellie Y. McKay: Reflections.” African American Review 40.1 (2006): 51.

“Ann Petry.” Writing African American Women: An Encyclopedia of Literature by and about Women of Color. Ed.

Elizabeth Beaulieu. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood P, 2006. 706-709.

“Weaving the Web of Reintegration: Locating A(unt) Nancy in Paule Marshall’s Praisesong for the Widow.” 

MELUS 30.1 (2005): 49-67.

“The African American Short Story.” Encyclopedia of Ethnic American Literature. Vol. 1. Ed. Emmanuel

Nelson. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood P, 2005: 93-99.

“Victor Sejour” Encyclopedia of Ethnic American Literature. Vol. 4. Ed. Emmanuel Nelson. Westport, Conn.:

Greenwood P, 2005: 1997-1998.

 “Toni Morrison’s Use of the Ancestor.”  A Toni Morrison Encyclopedia. Ed. Elizabeth Beaulieu. Westport,

Conn.: Greenwood P, 2003. 4-7.

Those Bones Are Not My Child, by Toni Cade Bambara. African American Review 35:2 (2001): 338-340.

Negotiating Difference: Race, Gender, and the Politics of Positionality, by Michael Awkward. African American

Review 33.3 (1999): 533-534. 

“Paule Marshall” Contemporary African-American Writers: A Bio-Bibliographic Sourcebook. Ed. Emmanuel S.

Nelson. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood P, 1999. 295-303.

​

 

 

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

“To Be Young, Gifted and Mentored.” College Language Association (CLA) Conference, Memphis, TN,

April 2, 2020. Postponed due to Covid.

“Black Feminist Intellectual Genealogies: Cites, Sites and Sights of Influence.” College Language

Association (CLA) Conference, Memphis, TN, April 4, 2020. Postponed due to Covid.

Plenary Facilitator “Scholars Complicating and Challenging Narratives: The Value of the UNCF

Perspective.” UNCF/Mellon Mentors and Coordinators’ Conference. Washington, DC, October 17,

2019.

“Thanks for the Feedback: Research Enhanced through the Eyes of Others. Wesleyan University MMUF

Program. Middletown, CT. April 2, 2019.

“When and Where I Enter: Nellie Y. McKay and Black Women’s Biography. College Language Association

(CLA) Conference, Raleigh, NC, April 13, 2019.

Respondent “Black Women and Crises of Popular Culture in the Contemporary Era.” American Studies

Association (ASA) Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, November 9, 2018. 

“Black Women in Academic Leadership: An Intersectional Conversation.” American Association of

Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Conference, Washington, DC, January 25, 2018.

“Pedagogies of Excellence: HBCUs and the PhD Pipeline.” Modern Language Association (MLA)

Conference, New York, NY, January 5, 2018.

“Plenary Convenor: The Future of UNCF Institutions as Sites for Academic and Intellectual Excellence.”

UNCF/Mellon Mentors and Coordinators’ Conference. Atlanta, GA, October 14, 2017.

“Psst! Let me Show You Something: Archival Research in the Black Diaspora—A Roundtable.” College

Language Association (CLA) Conference, Columbia, MO, April 7, 2017.

“Who Do You Think You Are?: Scholarly Identity and Academic Futures.” Macalester College MMUF

Summer Seminar. Minneapolis, MN. June 16, 2016.

“Pedagogies of Life Writing: The Nellie McKay-Nell Irvin Painter Correspondence, Black Women

in Dialogue: The Nellie Y. McKay / Nell Irvin Painter Letters. College Language

Association (CLA) Conference, Houston, TX, April 9, 2016.

Panelist “Beyoncé and Jay-Z: Engaging Popular Culture as a Pedagogical Platform in the Humanities and

Social Sciences” and “Academic Leadership Journeys.” UNCF/Mellon Mentors and Coordinators’

Conference. Atlanta, GA, October 9, 2016.

“The Private Dialogue that Preceded Public Intellectualism: Nellie Y. McKay, Nell Irvin Painter, and Black

Women in Defense of Themselves.” Black Matters Conference, University of Texas-Austin. September 29, 2016.

“Half in Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay,” Hiding in Plain Sight: African American

Women and the Reclamation of Space. Association for the Study of African American Life and

History (ASALH) Conference, Atlanta, GA, September 26, 2015.

“The Uses of Anger: Wanda Coleman and the Poetry of Black Rage,” Remembering—and Not Forgetting

Wanda Coleman. Modern Language Association (MLA) Conference, Vancouver, BC, January 9,

2015.

Panelist “Best Practices in the Production, Recruitment, and Retention of Scholar/Teacher/Activists.”

UNCF/Mellon Mentors and Coordinators’ Conference. Atlanta, GA, October 3, 2014.

Moderator, “Ellison and the Art of Civil Rights,” MELUS Conference, Oklahoma City, OK, March 8,

2014.

“Listening inside a Glass Box: Mary Rambo’s Lessons for Invisible Man.” Modern Language Association

(MLA) Conference, Boston, Massachusetts, January 3, 2013. 

“Strategies Not Truths: Nellie Y. McKay and the Art of Self-Construction.” Feminist Transformations.

National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) Conference, Atlanta, Georgia. November 11, 2011.

“Back to Black: Defending African American Literature in a Post-Racial Society." Ancestors, Elders and the

Next Generation: 40 Years of Afro-American Studies at UW-Madison. Pyle Center, Madison, WI, April 15,

2011.

“Hot Sex on a Platter: Lil’ Kim and Reconstructions of the Black Female Body.” Give Me Body: Reading

the Latina and Black Female Body in Popular Music. The Message is in the Music: Hip Hop Feminism, Riot Grrrl, Latina Music, and More. Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, March 6,

2010.

“As American as Sweet Potato Pie: Wanda Coleman and the African American Sonnet Tradition.” Meter,

Sight and Sound: Readings in African American Prosody. Modern Language Association (MLA)

Conference, Philadelphia, PA, December 29, 2009.

“The English Department in the New Economy.” Modern Language Association (MLA) Conference,

Philadelphia, PA, December 27, 2009.

Panelist “Publishing, Promotion and Tenure: Focus on Balance.” UNCF/Mellon Summer Institute. Atlanta,

GA, June 19, 2009.

“From Gospel Impulse to Hip Hop Revolution: Martin Luther King, Barack Obama and Post-Soul

Politics.” Collegium for African American Research (CAAR) Conference. Bremen, Germany. March

2009.

“Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: The Texts and/as Textiles of African American Women.” College

Language Association Conference. Charleston, SC. April 2008.

“Text as Textile: Black Women’s Literary and Fiber Art.” The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic

Literature of the United States (MELUS) Conference. Columbus, OH. March 2008.

“The Ananse Aesthetic: Transformations of the Trickster Spider in Black Women’s Literature, Folklore and

Fiber Art.”  Woodrow Wilson Career Enhancement Conference. Princeton, NJ. October 2006.

“The Secret Life of Spiders: Tracing A(unt) Nancy’s Web in Paule Marshall’s Praisesong for the Widow.” 

College English Association—Caribbean Chapter. University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez,

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. March 2006.

“Does it Matter if They’re Black or White?: Racial Ambiguity in Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s ‘The Two

Offers’ and Toni Morrison’s ‘Recitatif.’” International Conference on Interdisciplinary Approaches to Short Fiction Theory and Criticism. University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain. March 2004.

​

 

INVITED ADDRESSES

“Holding Space: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay.” Storytelling at the Kitchen Table: A Celebration

of Toni Morrison. Vanderbilt University. Nashville, TN. March 30, 2020. Cancelled due to Covid.

Speaker “Literacy and Liberation: A Survey of Free Black Women.” Grinnell College Course Imbedded

Travel, Professor Stephanie Jones. Harriet Tubman Byway/Dorchester County Visitor Center.

March 17, 2020. Cancelled due to Covid.

“Inscriptions for the Future: Toni Morrison and Black Feminist Beginnings.” Center for the Humanities

Public Lecture in Honor of Toni Morrison’s Inscription on the New Humanities and Social Studies

Complex. Grinnell, IA. February 19, 2020.

“Crepuscule with Nellie: Black Feminist Foundations of African American Literary History.” University of

Delaware, Newark, DE, December 5, 2019.

“The Art of Negotiation: The Decanal View.” SSRC Preparing for the Professoriate. Hilton Charlotte City

Center, Charlotte, NC. Sept. 20, 2019.

Panelist “Afro-American Studies and the Legacy of Nellie McKay.” A Symposium on Teaching, Writing,

and Community on the Occasion of the Retirement of Craig Werner. Pyle Center, Madison, WI.

April 26, 2019.

“The Art of Negotiation: An Administrator’s View.” SSRC Preparing for the Professoriate. Commons

Hotel, Minneapolis, MN. Sept. 23, 2017.

“The Academic’s Guide to Grant Writing.” SSRC PhD Retreat. Ballantyne Hotel, Charlotte, NC. July 13,

2015.

Keynote Speaker “Benjamin E. Mays Lecture.” MMUF at 25: The Annual UNCF/Mellon Summer

Institute Sponsored by the United Negro College Fund and the Andrew W. Mellon

Foundation. Emory University, Atlanta, GA. June 27, 2014.

“The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay.” AAUW State Meeting. Des Moines, Iowa, April 12, 2014.

“Half in Shadow: A Biography of Nellie Y. McKay.” Keokuk AAUW General Assembly. Keokuk,

Iowa, April 2, 2013.

Panelist “Career Enhancement Alumni Panel.” Career Enhancement Fellowships for Junior Faculty

Fall Retreat. Princeton Marriott Hotel and Conference Center at Forrestal, Princeton, NJ,

October 17, 2012.

“A Love Supreme: Wanda Coleman’s Jazz Sonnets.” 15th Annual Strictly Flow Slam Public Lecture.

DePaul University, Chicago, IL, February 15, 2012.

“In Control of Her Narrative: Nellie Y. McKay and the Art of Self-Construction.” Keokuk AAUW

General Assembly. Keokuk, Iowa, December 5, 2011.

Panelist “WorldCanvass: Iowa and Invisible Man.” University of Iowa’s Invisible Man Residency.

University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, December 2, 2011.

Panelist “Iowa and Invisible Man: Making Blackness Visible.” University of Iowa’s Invisible Man

Residency. African American Museum of Iowa, Cedar Rapids, IA, November 30, 2011.

Panelist “Career Enhancement Alumni Panel.” Career Enhancement Fellowships for Junior Faculty

Fall Retreat. Princeton Marriott Hotel and Conference Center at Forrestal, Princeton, NJ,

October 20, 2011.

Panelist “Supporting the Whole Fellow: Strategies for Overcoming Social Identity-Related Challenges.”

Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program Coordinators’ Conference. Eventi Hotel, New

York, NY, March 24, 2011.

“The Plow before the Prize: Mellon Mays and Black Achievement at Grinnell.” Black Alumni

Weekend. Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA, April 17, 2010.

Panelist “Writing and Influence.” Faulconer Influence Exhibit Programming. Grinnell College,

Grinnell, IA, March 17, 2010.

“Variations in a Theme: Wanda Coleman and the African American Sonnet Tradition.” Humanities

Works in Progress Lunch. Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA, February 12, 2010.

“From Sorrow Songs to Beating the Blues: Re-membering the Black Literary Tradition.” Faulconer

Influence Exhibit Programming. Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA, February 10, 2010.

“Career Enhancement Alumni Panel.” Career Enhancement Fellowships for Junior Faculty

Fall Retreat. Princeton Marriott Hotel and Conference Center at Forrestal, Princeton, NJ,

October 14, 2009.

Keynote Speaker “Benjamin E. Mays Lecture.” Scholars Transforming the Academy 2010: The 26th

Annual UNCF/Mellon Summer Institute Sponsored by the United Negro College Fund and

the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Emory University, Atlanta, GA. June 29, 2010.

Keynote Speaker “Coming Full Circle: MMUF PhDs.” Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship

Program Coordinators’ Conference. Rye Brook, NY, March 18-20, 2009.

Panelist “Completing the Circle: Mellon Fellows Now Serving as MMUF Coordinators.”  Mellon

Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program Coordinators’ Conference. New York, NY, March

14-16, 2007. 

Panelist “Nellie Y. McKay and the Art of Mentoring.”  Nellie Y. McKay Symposium. University of

Wisconsin Madison. Madison, WI, April 1, 2006.

Panelist “The Post-Graduate Experience: A Conversation.”  UNCF/Mellon Mentors and

Coordinators’ Conference. Charleston, SC, October 2-4, 2005.

​

 

COLLOQUIA

Workshop Facilitator, SSRC Regional Writing Retreat. 2020: Providence, RI (Virtual): July 10-12; San

Francisco, CA: March 6-8; Los Angeles, CA: Feb. 7-9. 

Workshop Facilitator, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Black Women Faculty Writing Retreat.

Virtual, June 6, 2020.

Workshop Facilitator, SSRC Dissertation Writing Retreat. Virtual. May 26-29, 2020. 

Workshop Facilitator, SSRC Regional Writing Retreat. 2019: Chicago, IL: April 5-7; Providence, RI: July 12

14; Chicago, IL: Nov. 15-17; Newark, NJ: October 25-27. 

Workshop Facilitator, Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) Early Career Faculty Writing Retreat.

Chicago, IL, Jan. 16-19, 2020.

Workshop Facilitator, SSRC Dissertation Writing Retreat. Oak Ridge Hotel & Conference Center. Chaska,

MN, May 29-June 2, 2019. 

Workshop Facilitator, SSRC Regional Writing Retreat. 2018: Newark, NJ: Sept. 21-23; Los Angeles, CA:

Nov. 2-4; San Francisco, CA: Dec. 7-9. 

Workshop Facilitator, SSRC Dissertation Writing Retreat. Oak Ridge Hotel & Conference Center. Chaska,

MN, May 29-June 3, 2018. 

Workshop Facilitator, “Teaching in an Open Curriculum,” Ripon College. Ripon, Wisconsin, October 10,

2017. 

Workshop Facilitator, SSRC Dissertation Writing Retreat. Lowes Hotel. Philadelphia, PA, July 6-11, 2016.

Workshop Facilitator, SSRC Dissertation Writing Retreat. Hotel Parq Central. Albuquerque, NM, May 28

June 2, 2015. 

Teleworkshop Facilitator, “How to Write Grants and Fellowships in the Humanities.” Kennesaw

State University. Kennesaw, GA. November 13, 20 and December 4, 2014.

Co-Facilitator, “Grantwriting and Proposal Development Workshop. Grinnell College. Grinnell,

Iowa, August 11-13, 2014.

Workshop Facilitator, SSRC Dissertation Writing Retreat. Bryn Mawr College. Bryn Mawr, PA, June

4-9, 2014.

Facilitator, “How to Write Grants and Fellowships: For Faculty in the Humanities.” National Center

for Faculty Development and Diversity.” June 4, 11, 18, and 24, 2013.

Workshop Facilitator, SSRC Dissertation Writing Retreat. Bryn Mawr College. Bryn Mawr, PA, June

6-11, 2013.

Workshop Facilitator, SSRC Dissertation Writing Retreat. Bryn Mawr College. Bryn Mawr, PA, May

31-June 5, 2012.

Workshop Facilitator, SSRC Proposal Writing and Dissertation Development Seminar. Cape Town,

South Africa, January 9-13, 2012.

Workshop Facilitator, SSRC Proposal Writing and Dissertation Development Seminar. Chicago, IL,

March 7-11, 2011.

Workshop Facilitator, SSRC Proposal Writing and Dissertation Development Seminar. Philadelphia,

PA, March 10-14, 2009.

Workshop Co-Facilitator, “Postdoctoral Humanities Workshop.” Ford Fellows Conference.

Washington, DC, October 20-22, 2006.

Workshop Facilitator, “Writing the Dissertation.” Social Science Research Council (SSRC)-Mellon

Mays Summer Conference. Washington University in St. Louis. St. Louis, MO, June 10-13,

2004.

​

​

COURSES TAUGHT

Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA

2008-2018: Assistant/Associate Professor of English 

• Tutorial: a first-year required course and the cornerstone of Grinnell’s individually-advised curriculum. Topics included “Why Manners Matter: Reading Culture through Style and Etiquette,” “Deconstructing Django,” and “#lemonade.”

• Literary Analysis: a gateway course where students develop the tools required to read and critique poetry and prose in English.

• Traditions in African American Literature: a survey of African American literature from the beginnings to the present.

• Traditions in American Literature II: a survey of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literature. 

• Studies in African American Literature: a seminar in African American literature. Topics included “Black Literature Beyond Race,” “Neo-Slave Narratives,” and “Invisibility, Hypervisibility, and Misrecognition: Critical and Theoretical Perspectives in Black Women’s Literature.”

• Short Course: “Citizen Maxine” mined Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric to make legible the wide-ranging emotional realities of Black women and to identify the literary and cultural practices Black women employ to combat invisibility, hypervisibility, and misrecognition.

 

Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, NC

1998-2008: Assistant Professor of English

• Introduction to African American Literature: Beginnings to the Harlem Renaissance

• Introduction to African American Literature: Harlem Renaissance to the Present

• Special Topics: Black Literature Beyond Race; The African American Short Story; Introduction to Black Women Writers; African American and Other Cultures; Hip-Hop Culture; and Black Music and American Cultural History

• Introductory Composition

• Introduction to Literature Appreciation

• American Literature to 1900

• World Literature

 

Davidson College, Davidson, NC

2003: Visiting Assistant Professor of English

• Introduction to Literature

• Introduction to African American Literature

• Composition

• American Literature to 1900

• Black Women Writers Seminar

 

Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC

2002: Instructor of African American Studies

• Introduction to African American Studies

 

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE

Grinnell College

Associate Dean of the College, January 2017-July 2018

• Managed a portfolio of multiple projects as assigned by the Dean of the College.

• Spearheaded curricular initiatives centered on teaching and learning and communicated progress to the Dean.

• Led a team that designed and implemented student-centered advising training for faculty.

• Directed undergraduate research symposium; increased participation by 30% and instituted orientation sessions to increase equity.

• Shepherded academic department and program reviews to maintain robust academic and co-curricular offerings. 

• Launched inclusive teaching pilot in collaboration with Chief Diversity Officer and Assistant Dean for Disability Services.

• Oversaw the faculty mentoring program and coached early career faculty to increase retention rates, especially among women and faculty of color.

• Ensured fairness and equity in the adjudication process as chair of the Committee on Academic Standing.

• Advised Chief-of-Staff and Chief Diversity Officer on Title IX investigation; served as complainant advocate. 

• Developed administrative workflow to improve efficiency and to clarify processes during administrative transitions.

• Served on Academic Budget Committee and collaborated with colleagues to align fiscal priorities with institutional mission and curricular values.

• Chaired Tutorial and Advising Committee to ensure robust first-year experience for students.

• Negotiated hiring contracts with term faculty while adhering to budgetary constraints.

• Revamped and facilitated training for faculty teaching first-year seminar (tutorial).

• Served on Board of Trustees’ Advancement Committee. 

• Served on Capital Campaign Committee.

• Served on Admission and Financial Aid Committee.

• Served on Council on Diversity and Inclusion.

 

Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) Program: Principal Investigator and Faculty Coordinator/Director,

2008-2018

• Authored $500,000 grant awarding Grinnell status as an MMUF member institution; total funding exceeded $1M.

• Developed an undergraduate research curriculum to prepare students of color and first-generation college students to pursue the Ph.D. and diversify the professoriate. 

• Managed budgets and oversaw annual reporting in collaboration with grant’s office.

• Negotiated cabinet-level financial support for diversity initiatives.

• Transformed the student experience by mentoring fellows, teaching the MMUF seminar, and accompanying students to undergraduate student conferences.

• Improved the faculty experience by authoring a mentoring handbook that established best practices and cleared barriers to mentor/fellow collaborative work.

 

Johnson C. Smith University

Honors College Director, 2005-2008

• Managed delivery of Honors curriculum.

• Oversaw program review, including SWOT analysis and summer faculty retreat.

• Chaired curriculum committee.

• Managed program budget.

• Coordinated successful Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) review of the Honors College program.

• Implemented curricular changes according to Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP).

 

National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Assessment Supervisor, 2002-2003

• Aligned standards with courses, outcomes, syllabi, and activities. 

• Coordinated successful NCATE accreditation review.

 

 

SERVICE

Grinnell College

• Council on Diversity and Inclusion, 2016-2018

• Graduate School Exploration Fellowship (GSEF) faculty coordinator, 2017-2018

• Board of Trustees Advancement Committee, Faculty Representative, 2014-2016

• SWAG (Scholarly Women’s Achievement Group) Co-Convener, 2012-2016

• Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship faculty coordinator, 2009-2018

• Program Adviser, Spelman and Morehouse Off-Campus Study Programs, 2009-2018

 

Consulting and Service to the Profession

• Reader: Pedagogy; Black Women, Gender, and Families; MELUS; American Literary History; Journal of

Research on Women and Gender, CLA, PMLA

• Reviewer, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) “Humanities Initiatives for Faculty at Presidentially-Designated Institutions” and AAUW Postdoctoral Fellowships

• College Language Association (CLA), Archives Committee Chair, 2020-present

• Grinnell College Senior Fellow for Advancement of Grinnell College Excellence (Mentor), 2019-present

• UNCF/Mellon Advisory Board Member, 2016-present

• UNCF/Mellon Programs Conference Planning Committee Co-Chair, 2016

 

 

 

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

• Modern Language Association (MLA)

• College Language Association (Life member)

• Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)

• The Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literature of the U.S. (MELUS)

• National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA)