Division B Pre-Conference Mentoring Session. Write It Down, Sis: Writing, Wellness, and Women of Color Scholars in the Academy (Day 2 of 2)

Session Type: Pre-Conference Mentoring Session

Abstract

The idea of wellness is rarely discussed in the academy, particularly with regard to the quality and quantity of writing that junior scholars are expected to produce. In this context, writing is often conceptualized as a means to an end, such as a complete dissertation, an academic appointment, or promotion and/or tenure. The intense pressure to publish-or-perish can become a source of (di)stress that exacerbates the many challenges that Women of Color (WoC) scholars—who are multiply marginalized—already encounter while navigating academia’s inhospitable landscape (Gutiérrez y Muhs, Neiman, González, & Harris, 2012). The strain of this (di)stress may hamper or sabotage our creativity and productivity, thereby compromising our personal/professional success, which is inextricably bound to our wellness. This interactive and intercorporeal preconference seminar is intended as a space for​ ​self-identified Women of Color​ ​scholars to explore and experience writing ​for ​ wellness and writing ​as wellness; that is, to engage writing as a fugitive practice (Patel, 2019).

Sub Unit

• Division B - Curriculum Studies

Participants

• Esther O Ohito, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Denise M. Taliaferro Baszile, Miami University

• Cynthia B. Dillard, SEATTLE UNIVERSITY