Please join the Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Program for our next session of Works in Progress, a workshop series for graduate student research.

The series continues with Anglesia Brown, PhD Candidate in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies. Anglesia will share "Triumphantly Taking Tenure: Reflections of Black Women Faculty in Higher Education."

Description: This qualitative study focuses on the tenure experiences of Black women faculty who have attained tenure at predominately white institutions of higher education. Black Feminist Theory, Endarkened Feminist Epistemology, and Identity Taxation create conceptual framework for this study. Methodologically, this study uses sista circles and analyzes data through narrative inquiry, looking at the experiences of Black women faculty across various disciplines while they were on the tenure track. This study aims to share the dueling stories of triumph, strength, and endurance while increasing awareness about the marginalization and multiple oppressions that Black women faculty have withstood while pursuing the professoriate.

About the series: The central goal of the workshop series is to help foster community support among graduate students with research and teaching interests in feminism, trans studies, and/or queer studies. 

The series is an opportunity for graduate students to share work at any stage of development, whether dissertation work, MA thesis work, seminar work, or presentation work—but genuine works in progress. The workshop is not focused on “finished products.” Instead, the series is an opportunity for students to share work among a peer community and request feedback that is most helpful, supportive, and motivating for the stage they are at.

The series, however, is not a substitute for the necessary work students do with their own departments, advisors, or committee members, nor, given the likely cross-disciplinary nature of the work shared, would the group always be able to address discipline-specific matters. The group would be, rather, a form of care and support for graduate students and their work, something akin to academic mutual aid.