Newly available at the SCL, today’s staff pick is Experiences of single African-American women professors : With this Ph.D., I thee wed, edited by Eletra S. Gilchrist (c2011. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books). A fascinating collection of essays written by “never-before-married and doctorate degree-holding African-American women professors,” titles include:
- “Black, educated, and female: A perspective on contemporary courtship,” by Celeste Walls, Ph.D.
- “‘Acting like a lady and doing me’: Rejecting the ‘strong black woman’ stereotype, sexism, and settling,” by Kandace L. Harris, Ph.D.
- “The myth and mismatch of balance: Black female professors’ construction of balance, integration, and negotiation of work and life,” by Natalie T. J. Tindall, Ph.D. and Markesha S. McWilliams.
- “‘I’m in the middle of nowhere!’: The dating experiences of black, female doctoral students and faculty at predominantly white environments,” by Mounira Morris, Ed.D.
- “Neither an ‘old maid’ nor a ‘Miss Independent’: Deflating the negative perceptions of single African-American women professors,” by Eletra S. Gilchrist, Ph.D.
These are but a sample of the thought-provoking issues raised in this volume, in which “The authors and research participants speak candidly about their experiences, exploring a myriad of topics including dating costs and rewards, relationship challenges, work/life balance, multiple intersecting identities, negative perceptions, and identity negotiation.” A complete summary and further information is available here in the UNC library catalog and we highly encourage you to come by the Library and check it out!
For more on this topic, here are a couple of other titles, also available here at the SCL:
- Tedious journeys : Autoethnography by women of color in academe. c2010. Edited by Cynthia Cole Robinson and Pauline Clardy. New York: Peter Lang.
- Sisters of the academy : Emergent Black women scholars in higher education. 2001. Reitumetse Obakeng Mabokela and Anna L. Green, editors. Sterling, Va.: Stylus.
Happy reading!