Dr. Antione Tomlin (LLC PhD 2021) has three new publications:

Please join us in congratulating Charlotte on reaching this significant milestone! She has applied for and achieved Candidacy.

Please join us in congratulating Tony on reaching this significant milestone! He can now apply for candidacy.

On May 4, 2022, Dr. Christine Mallinson, Professor of Language, Literacy & Culture and Director of the Center for Social Science Scholarship, was interviewed on National Public Radio's The World.

The title of the segment was called "Italian Court Rules that Naming Children after Men Alone is Unconstitutional." Dr. Mallinson studies patrilineal surname conventions.

You can listen here.

On April 28, 2022 Rachel Carter of LLC Cohort 12 successfully defended her dissertation and earned the title of Doctor of Philosophy. Her degree will be conferred on May 25th.

Rachel's virtual defense went very smoothly and she gave an excellent presentation of her dissertation research, "Shifting Attention: A Feminist-Humanities Model for Social Justice Education."

The program wishes to acknowledge the guidance and commitment of Rachel's committee:

Chair:

   Dr. Carole McCann, Gender, Women's, + Sexuality Studies

   Dr. Beverly Bickel, Language, Literacy & Culture

   Dr. Kate Drabinski, Gender, Women's, + Sexuality Studies

   Dr. Patrice McDermott, Provost's Office and American Studies

   Dr. Helen Atkinson, Teachers' Democracy Project

After a national search, the Language, Literacy & Culture Program is very pleased to announce that Dr. Tanya L. Saunders will be joining the program as Associate Professor in Fall 2022. They will fill a niche for research and advising in the area of Black expressive culture across the diaspora.

Dr. Saunders is currently in residence, during the Spring of 2022, as a Mark Claster Mamolen Fellow at Harvard University's Hutchins Center for African & American Research, working on their book tentatively entitled Estéticas do Bapho: Queering Black Brazilian Artivism and Politics of Liberation. Saunders is a sociologist and cultural studies scholar who is interested in the ways in which the African Diaspora throughout the Americas uses the arts as a tool for social change, specifically through decolonizing systems of thinking and knowing in the Americas.

As a 2011-2012 Fulbright scholar to Brazil, Saunders began work on their current project about Black Queer Artivism in Brazil. Saunders holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a Master of International Development Policy from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. They were also a co-recipient of two Abdias do Nascimento Awards funded by CAPES in Brazil. Dr. Saunders' 2015 book entitled Cuban Underground Hip Hop: Black Thoughts, Black Revolution, Black Modernity was published by the University of Texas Press. The Portuguese version of the book was released a few weeks ago by Editora Editus as Modernidade Negra: hip hop, artivismo e mudança social em Havana. They are also the director of the film project entitled Afro Feminismos em Cuba which is currently streamed on YouTube. They have published and lectured extensively throughout Latin America and the Caribbean and have served on many dissertation committees and taught graduate courses over the last several years.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Saunders to the LLC Doctoral Program!

On April 14, 2022 Ciara Christian of LLC Cohort 21 successfully defended her dissertation and earned the title of Doctor of Philosophy. Her degree will be conferred on May 25, 2022.

Ciara's virtual defense went very smoothly and she gave a powerful presentation of her dissertation research, "Talkin' Shit, Pouring Libations, and Building Community: Exploring Podcasts as a Contemporary Site of Black Feminist Knowledge Production and Activism." 

The program wishes to acknowledge the guidance and commitment of Ciara's committee:

Co-Chairs:

   Dr. Brandy Wallace, Sociology, Anthropology & Public Health

   Dr. Kimberly Moffitt, Language, Literacy & Culture and CAHSS

Members:

   Dr. Jason Loviglio, Media & Communication Studies

   Dr. Jasmine Lee, Inclusive Excellence & Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion & Belonging

   Dr. Tina Harris, Louisiana State University, Manship School of Mass Communication

On April 6, 2022 Kaleigh Mrowka of LLC Cohort 21 successfully defended her dissertation and earned the title of Doctor of Philosophy. Her degree will be conferred on May 25, 2022.

The virtual conversation with the committee about Dr. Mrowka's dissertation, "Restorative Justice Practices as a Framework for Change in Higher Education," was a wide-ranging and reflective conversation about personal, relational and systemic openings, possibilities and challenges of Restorative Justice Practices. Her powerful work reveals how practitioners of Restorative Justice Work in higher education have been impacted, and it uncovers the possibilities that expanding Restorative Justice Practices can contribute towards positive change into higher education and communities.

The program wishes to acknowledge the guidance and commitment of Kaleigh's committee:

Co-chairs:

     Dr. Yolanda Valencia, Geography & Environmental Systems

     Dr. Beverly Bickel, Language, Literacy & Culture

Members:

     Dr. Joby Taylor, Shriver Peaceworker Program

     Dr. Ramon Goings, Language, Literacy & Culture

     Dr. Gina Abrams, International Institute for Restorative Practices

On April 5, 2022 Tunisia Lacy-Lumpkin of LLC Cohort 19 successfully defended her dissertation and earned the title of Doctor of Philosophy. Her degree will be conferred on May 25, 2022.

The virtual meeting with the committee about Dr. Lacy-Lumpkin's dissertation, "What I Like: Chronicles of Black Males' Perspectives of Black Women's Hair," was a lively and engaged conversation about the methodology of the study and the power of her findings for opening up conversations with and among Black men and women about hair and body perceptions, politics and representations. The conversation included Dr. Lacy-Lumpkin's plans to expand her Black hair and body politics research by analyzing and sharing lived experiences of Black men and women through scholarship and media platforms.

The program wishes to acknowledge the guidance and commitment of Tunisia's committee:

Co-chairs: Dr. Kimberly Moffitt and Dr. Beverly Bickel (LLC)

Dr. Nicoleta Bazgan (MLLI)

Dr. Ramon Goings (LLC)

Dr. Bertram Ashe (University of Richmond)

Congratulations, Dr. Lacy-Lumpkin!