Exploring Barbershop Talks as Sites of Placemaking and Critical Dialogue Among Black Collegiate Men

• In Event: Stories and Voices of the Self as Frameworks for Qualitative Research

Abstract

As of recent, the concept of Black barbershops has been used on college campuses to create environments where Black men can participate in discourse centered around issues impacting them. Utilizing Black placemaking and shoptalk as the conceptual framework and hermeneutic phenomenology as the methodology, this study explored the experiences of 16 Black collegiate men who participated in an event series known as Barbershop Talks at a large, historically White institution in the Southern region of the U.S. For this study, data were collected from two focus groups. Findings revealed that the Barbershop Talks served as a judgment free space for the men to engage in critical dialogue that promoted their sense of belonging, identity development, and academic success.

Author

• Jarrod E. Druery, University of Cincinnati