Academic Programs

Black studies major Miranda Bodfish applauds as major Isatu Bah receives her senior gift.

The Black Studies Program invites students to investigate the Black experience as it manifests itself in Africa, North America, the Caribbean, Latin America and in other parts of the African diaspora.

While the program's primary focus is the study of the Black experience in North America, fundamental to this enterprise is a recognition of the triangular relationship between Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, as well as the United States.

The Black studies major and minor

The program seeks to serve the general needs of the college by providing course offerings across the full range of academic divisions. At the same time, it is designed to meet the specialized interests of students through an interdisciplinary major and minor. Therefore, many appropriate courses are found under the rubric of other departments.

A Black studies major must fulfill a minimum of 32 credit hours including the following requirements:

• three core courses in Black studies:
  • Introduction to Black Studies
  • Ethnic Literature
  • The History of Blacks in America
• one course in women's studies
• one course whose primary subject matter is Africa or the Caribbean or Latin America
  
• a senior research project.

A Black studies minor must fulfill a minimum of 24 credit hours including the following requirements:

• three core courses in Black studies:
  • Introduction to Black Studies
  • Ethnic Literature
  • The History of Blacks in America
• one course in women's studies
• one course whose primary subject matter is Africa or the Caribbean or Latin America
  
• a senior research project as a directed study.

Black studies major Jamel Bailey presents her senior research during the annual Black studies luncheon.

Student research

The senior research project should be designed in consultation with the director of the Center for Black Studies. Field research or field experience may comprise a portion of the senior research project. A wide range of field opportunities in local Black communities is available to students through the Center for Black Studies.

What do Black studies majors do after Denison?

A liberal arts education allows our graduates to go on to many varied careers. Many continue on to teaching, business and postgraduate education in professional programs.

Who are our professors?

The Black studies curriculum is administered by a faculty committee and the director of the Center for Black Studies. This committee reviews and approves the educational plans developed by majors and minors in consultation with the director of the Center for Black Studies.

Director of the Center for Black Studies and Associate Professor of Black Studies and Women's Studies Toni C. King joined the faculty at Denison in 1997. She earned a B.A. at Oklahoma State University, an M.A. at The Ohio State University and a Ph.D. at Case Western Reserve University. King teaches Introduction to Black Studies, Issues in Feminism, Ckultlkural and Social Research Methods, Black Women and Organizational Leadership and Black Women's Lives: Autobiography as Protest. King also provides personal growth workshops for women concerning leadership, spirituality, social support and personal/professional balance. She has published numerous articles on women's resistance to and recovery from race, class and gender oppression.

Assistant Professor of History Lauren Araiza joined the faculty in 2007. She earned her B.A. at Williams College and her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley. Araiza teaches African American History; Dancing in the Street - The African American Urban Experience; and, The History of Black Power - From Marcus Garvey to Chuck D.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Education Jerrell Beckham joined the faculty in 2006. He earned his B.A. at Denison University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of  Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Professor of Communication Suzanne E. Condray joined the faculty at Denison in 1980. She earned a B.A. at East Texas Baptist College, an M.A. at Colorado State University and a Ph.D. at Louisiana State University. She brings eclectic interests in politics, law, rhetoric, gender and documentary to her study of communication. As an independent videographer, Condray has produced documentaries about women's professional basketball and Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for the U.S. presidency.

Associate Professor of Sociology/Anthropology Susan E. Diduk joined the faculty at Denison in 1984. She earned a B.A. at the College of William and Mary, an M.A. at University College London, U.K. and an M.A. and a Ph.D. at Indiana University. She teaches in the areas of comparative social institutions, sociology of art, contemporary sociocultural theory, gender and Africa. Her areas of specialization include classical and contemporary theory, art and society, gender, political economy and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Assistant Professor of Art Joanna Grabski joined the faculty at Denison in 2000. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in the History of Art and African Studies at Indiana University. Her research focuses on modern and contemporary art in Africa, especially Senegal and Congo, where she has worked with artists, collectors and critics.

Associate Professor John L. Jackson joined the faculty at Denison in 1974. He earned a B.S. at Miles College, an M.Div. at Harvard Divinity School and a Ph.D. at The Ohio State University. A frequent facilitator of multicultural course design and teaching workshops, Jackson is the author of "Black Religion: Its Significance for Black Studies," published in Philosophical Perspectives in Black Studies and "Whiteness in the Black Studies Classroom: Responding to Student Resistance," published in Making Connections: a Journal for Teachers of Cultural Diversity. His research interests include liberation theology, black theology and black religion, feminist theology, religion of the slave, new religions, cults and sects.

Associate Professor of English Linda J. Krumholz joined the faculty at Denison in 1992. She earned a B.A. at Reed College and an M.A. and a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She specializes in contemporary ethnic American literature and Black studies. Her publications on Toni Morrison and Leslie Marmon Silko have appeared in African American Review, Ariel, and Modern Fiction Studies.

Assistant Professor of Communication Jeffrey Kurtz joined the faculty in 2001. He earned his B.A. at Mt. Union College and his M.A. and Ph.D. at Pennsylvania State University. He teaches "Public Speaking," "Persuasion," "Communication in Social Movements," and "Rhetoric and the American Experience." His research interests include rhetorics of reform and advocacy, the African-American civil rights movement, and the intersection of religious and civic discourse in American public life.

Assistant Professor of Sociology/Anthropology Veerendra Lele joined the faculty in 2003. He earned his A.B. at Cornell University, an M.A. at Georgetown University, an M.A. at the University of Michigan and a M.Phil. and Ph.D. at Columbia University. His research interests are in cultural identity, material culture and archeology, issues of racial and ethnic identity, kinship, and religious ritual. Much of his field work has been done in Ireland, exploring issues of identity through the work of certain philosophers.

Assistant Professor of English Anita Mannur joined the faculty in 2005. She earned a B.A. at the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts. Her teaching and research interests lie in Asian American and South Asian diasporic literatures and food and culture. She is editor with Jana Evans Braziel of Theorizing Diaspora (Blackwell, 2003) and editor of a special volume of the Massachusetts Review (Fall 2004) on "Food Matters." She is currently at work on a book length manuscript on gastronomic multiculturalism in South Asian American literature and culture.

Assistant Professor of Communication Erika Molloseau joined the faculty in 2006. She earned her B.A. at Western Michigan University and her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research interests include Black popular culture, feminist theory, masculinity studies, racialization and social movements, and contemporary rhetorical criticism.

Assistant Professor Frank T. Proctor III joined the faculty at Denison in 2005. He earned a B.A. at the University of California, Davis, an M.A. at the University of Arizona and a Ph.D. at Emory University. Proctor is the author of Afro-Mexican Slave Labor in the Obrajes de Paños of New Spain, 17th and 18th Centuries and has articles on slavery in Mexico forthcoming in the Hispanic American Historical Review and Black Mexico. His research and teaching interests include slavery in the Americas; race, ethnicity, and identity in Latin America; the African Diaspora; and Afro-American religiosities.

Professor of History Donald G. Schilling came to Denison in 1971 with an undergraduate degree from DePauw University and an M.A. and a Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin. His fields of interest are modern Europe and African history, and his courses are Modern Europe, Generation of Materialism, Europe: 1870-1914, War and Revolution in the 20th Century, The Rise and Fall of Nazi Germany and An Introduction to Modern Africa.

 Assistant Professor Amy Scott-Douglas joined the faculty at Denison in 2005. She earned a B.A. and M.A. in English and an M.A. in theatre from Bowling Green State University. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma. She teaches a course on race and gender in Shakespearean literature.

Instructor/Assistant Professor of English Jack Shuler joined the faculty at Denison in 2007. He earned a B.A. at Guilford College, an M.F.A. at Brooklyn College, and is a Ph.D. candidate at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. He teaches a course in early American literature entitled Human Rights, American Identity and the Problems of Slavery.

Professor of History Mitchell Snay joined the history faculty in 1986. With a B.A. degree from University of Michigan and Ph.D. from Brandeis University, his research focuses on the 19th century South. He teaches American Civilization to 1865, A History of the American South, The Revolutionary Transformation of America: 1760-1815 and The Age of Jackson: The United States, 1815-1848.

Associate Professor of Sociology/Anthropology Anita Waters joined the faculty at Denison in 1992. She earned a B.A. at Mary Washington College and an M.A., an M.Phil. and a Ph.D. at Columbia University. Her research interests concern the role that ideas and beliefs, especially those that coincide with ethnic group membership, play in shaping social and political action. Her most recent projects are an examination of post-colonial Jamaican revisions to its historical narratives and a study of heritage tourism development and unofficial community history in Port Royal, Jamaica.

Assistant Professor of Music Raymond Wise joined the faculty at Denison in 2000. He earned a B.F.A. at Denison University and an M.A. and a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. Wise conducts the University's gospel choir. He established the Center for the Gospel Arts in Columbus, which provides training for gospel artists. He also is the founder and president of Raise Productions, a gospel music production company.