Health and Wellness Advocacy: A New Public Engagement Pathway for African American Studies (Invited Session Sponsored by Fire!!!)

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Academic Excellence and Social Responsibility has long been a widely adopted value in African American Studies. Historically, this slogan has applied mainly to scholarship in the humanities—especially history and literature—and, to a lesser extent, in the social sciences. It has become increasingly clear that there is an urgent need to extend this commitment to new disciplinary areas which are no less important to the well-being of African American communities than history and literature. Issues of health and wellness, and work in related disciplinary fields, are at the very top of this list. This panel is organized by the leadership of the Department of African American Studies at the University of Illinois and the Department of African American Studies at Georgia State University. It reflects our understanding of the very positive and powerful role that our discipline can play in addressing health and wellness issues, and linking the concerns of higher education research to the needs of communities. We will present ongoing work related to five components of this approach: promoting health and wellness education and advocacy opportunities for underserved youth; facilitating the production of popular media presentations; creating education and career opportunities; developing curriculum materials; and promoting collaborative research on health and wellness issues, especially in African American Studies departments and programs. These papers will be published as a special of FIRE!!! The Multimedia Journal in Black Studies http://www.fire-jbs.org/, a journal published by the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History.

Sub Unit

• ASALH Centennial Annual Meeting and Conference

Chair

• Ronald W Bailey, University of Illinois

Individual Presentations

• #BlackGirlsRun: Promoting Positive Health and Wellness Outcomes Using Social Media - Felicia Harris, University of Houston-Downtown

• Racial Discrimination and Mental Health: Exploring Variations in the Family Context - Sharde McNeil Smith, Department of African American Studies, University of Illinois

• Black Women and their Health: An Agenda for Research - Jamae Morris, Georgia State University

• Obstacles and Options to Faith-based HIV Service Delivery to Low-Income Inner City Residents: Perspectives of Black Clergy with Commuter Congregations - Sarita Davis, Georgia State University

Commentators

• Akinyele Umoja, Georgia State Universeity

• Safiya Omari, Associate Vice President for Research, Jackson State University,