Speculative Possibilities for Black Life in the Academy

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 3:45 pm - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Biographical Stories, Cultural Preservation, and Creative Research Practices in Education

Abstract

Inspired by popular humanist digital media projects, Imagined Futures is a digital and visual scholarship project that brings together photographic portraits, documentary-style interviews, and reflective essays that explore the often diminished and disregarded humanity of Black college and university faculty. Through speculative inquiry and visual storytelling, the project surfaces new models of self-authorship, collective visibility, and radical possibility for Black life-making within and beyond the academy. This presentation features a screening of the documentary which explores how Black faculty envision alternate academic and personal realities beyond systemic constraints. Following the film, a facilitated discussion with attendees will examine the implications for higher education policy & praxis as it relates to the retention, recruitment & support of Black faculty.

Authors

• Candace N. Hall, Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville

• Charles H.F. Davis, University of Michigan

• Christopher S. Travers, University of Maryland