Position
Academic Background
Sample Courses
Teaching Philosophy
Research & Interests
Publication Highlights
Selected Scholarly Presentations 

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Position            

• Director, Black Studies Program 
• Assistant Professor of Political Science

Academic Background         

• University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT - Ph.D. in Political Science, 1997
• University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT - M.A. in Economics, 1994
• Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY - B.A. in Economics, 1992

Sample Courses Taught at Providence College   

• Introduction to Black Studies and Race, Gender and Public Policy

Teaching Philosophy            

    My teaching pedagogy is designed to enhance the political consciousness of students.  My approach to teaching does not center me as a transmitter of knowledge to be given to students.  Instead, I view my role in the classroom as a facilitator in the pursuit of knowledge.  I do not view my students as passive recipients of knowledge but as active participants in the learning process.

   My central objective is to encourage students to challenge existing structures, practices, and definitions of knowledge. This often starts with me asking them "why and how do you know what you know?" This approach tends to encourage students to be receptive not only to my challenges, but also their own.  In essence it creates a space for learning.

   To achieve this primary goal there are four objectives.  These objectives include: to foster and encourage a critical thinker; to encourage an activist student; to improve and enhance the student's communication skills, particularly writing and oral; and to hone the problem-solving skills of students.

Research & Interests                   

    As an undergraduate student, I was enthused to be in a class exploring the economics of social welfare policy. Little did I know that this class would shape my future research agenda.  I can vividly remember the professor asserting that on the 1st and 15th of every month drug sales increased.  She then explained that this increase was directly related to the fact that welfare recipients received their checks at those times.  I was intrigued by this explanation and raised my hand and asked, “Are only welfare recipients paid at that time or do others also receive their checks around this same time period?” To be honest, I cannot recall the professor’s response.  However, what I do know is that her class sparked my interest in what I know to define as the intersectionality of race, gender, and inequality and policy decision making.  Eventually I moved away from economics to become a political scientist; however my curiosity never wavered.

   My research focuses primarily on the functioning of racialized and gendered images and symbols in the policy making process.  Most of my research concentrates on the “early” stages of the policy making process—the definition stage.  Generally speaking, my interests are directed at understanding the relationship between race, class and gender, and the policy making process.  Focusing on the definition stage enables for the analysis of how values influence the decision making process.  Societal values, influenced in part by race and gender norms, are often conveyed through symbols that are used to describe the policy issue and the policy targeted group.  The basic foundation of my argument is that the creation of meaning, in defining policy issues and groups, via the use of cultural images and symbols, is central in determining what policy actions are taken.

   The nature of my research tends to be interdisciplinary.  For example, I employ the theory of issue framing as developed by sociologists and Black feminists theory as developed by theologists among others.  Generally, I rely on the work of critical race and gender theorists in developing my own research.  I have been trained in both quantitative and qualitative methods.  Because of the nature of my questions, much of my current research employs a qualitative approach.  I select this approach, using critical discourse analysis for example, as it allows me to better explore and understand the use of values in the policy decision making process.

Publication Highlights

• Black Women, Cultural Images and Social Policy. New York: Routledge (Forthcoming).
• “Policy Interaction: The mixing of fatherhood, crime and urban policies” Journal of Social Policy, 2008, 37 (1) 81-102.
• “Let Men be Men: A Gendered Analysis of Black Ideological Response to Familial Policies.” National Political Science Review, 2007, 11: 177-192.
• “Am I a Black Woman or a Woman who is Black? A Few Thoughts on the Meaning of Intersectionality?” Politics & Gender 2007, 3(2): 254-263.
•  “Reflections on Mentoring: Black Women and the Academy.” PS: Political Science & Politics, (October) 2004, 37: 875-880.
• “The Female Bogeyman: Political Implications of criminalizing Black Women.” Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society, 2003, 5(2): 42-62.
• “Black Womanhood and Social Welfare Policy: The Influence of Her Image on Policy Making.” Sage Race Relations Abstract. August 2001, 26(3): 5-24.

Book Reviews:  

• Alexander-Floyd, Nikol G. Gender, Race, and Nationalism in Contemporary Black Politics (New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2008). New Political Science , 2008, 30(2): 272-274.
• Kimberly Springer, Living for the revolution: Black feminist organizations, 1968-1980 (North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2005). Feminist Theory, 2007, 4(8): 124 - 125.
• James Jennings (Ed.). “Race Politics and Community Development in U. S. Cities”, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 594. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2004). Urban Affairs Review, 2006, 42(2): 283-286.   

Selected Scholarly Presentations and Activities

• “Gender Differences and Policy Making: An Analysis of Pay Equity” (with Salida Wilson, Undergraduate Student). National Conference of Black Political Scientists, Chicago, IL. March 21-25, 2008.
• Co-Chair, National Conference of Black Political Scientists. 2007 Annual Meeting.
• “Africana Women and their Response to HIV/AIDS: A Case Study of South Africa and the United States.” Collegium for African American Research, Madrid, Spain. April 17-21, 2007.
• “Who and where are my sisters? A transnational Africana womanist response to AIDS”. American Political Science Association Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, PA. August 31-Septermer 3, 2006.
• Panelist on “Roundtable on encountering resistance: Women of color and classroom teaching” American Political Science Association. Washington, D.C. August 31-September 3, 2005.

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