Envisioning the Future: Black Studies and the Graduate Student Experience' Community Dialogue for Current and Prospective Black Studies Students

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Discussion

Abstract

The graduate students of Black Studies are the future of the field and discipline. As scholars and rising experts, it is critical to familiarize ourselves with those we are growing alongside, as well as the struggles and triumphs we endure as we continue to grow in our profession. “Envisioning the Future: Black Studies and the Graduate Student Experience” is the space that will facilitate this communal conversation.
As a collaborative session with the NCBS Keto Fellows and Indiana University Bloomington’s African American and African Diaspora Studies (AAADS) Graduate Society, our roundtable session explores the interests, needs, and perspectives of current and prospective graduate students through an open dialogue and discussion format. Following the introduction of everyone in attendance, we will thematically traverse our shared yet diverse experiences across the past, present, and future of Black Studies through the discussion of topics such as those listed below:

I. Building and maintaining communities in Black Studies
II. Envisioning the future with a Black Studies degree
III. The role of students in supporting, building, and promoting Black Studies
IV. The Institutionalization of Black Studies
V. Key issues identified by Black Studies students: hiring Black Studies degree holders, overcoming intergenerational challenges, and more
VI. The graduate student experience: expectations and actuality
VII. Graduate students and NCBS
VIII. Technological Advancement in Black Studies

It is imperative for graduate students to feel connected to one another through shared experiences, and encourage each other to keep pressing toward our mark despite the various “crosshairs” we find ourselves in at this level of our educational and professional development. Having the space for open yet robust dialogue has the potential to relieve the pressure of attending a conference for the first time, aids in building a community of rising Black Studies experts and scholars, and provides a welcoming environment to bond over what we have in common beyond the academic and intellectual aspects of Black Studies – being a graduate student. We will explore what this looks like, what it means, what it should be, and how we can get there collectively.
As we build a network of comradery and shared empowerment among current graduate students, we hope to provide a glimpse into a wide array of possibilities for prospective graduate students, whether they are currently pursuing their undergraduate degree or are working professionals considering a graduate degree in Black Studies. Our goal is not to recruit students (although we can’t promise that our experience won’t persuade them otherwise!), but it will illuminate an amazing opportunity for them as we explore the efforts, shortcomings, developments, and glory of Black Studies.
This session is tailored toward a current and prospective graduate student audience; all others are welcome to join but are invited to primarily observe unless otherwise asked to join the conversation to allow the voice of student discourse to be amplified.

Sub Unit

• Theory, Practice & Struggle

Discussants

• Ashley Hayes, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Marcus Smith, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Jasmine Frison, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Oluwanifemi Ologunorisa, Indiana University - Bloomington