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STANDING ON THE AUCTION BLOCK: TEACHING THROUGH THE BLACK FEMALE BODY

Howard, Shewanee D
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1187188330

Abstract Details

2007, Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, Educational Leadership.
While previous research has examined the experiences of Black women in academe, the current project seeks to determine how Black female faculty members experience teaching in the Black female body, specifically within the confines of the classroom. This project is launched first from examining the life of Saartjie Baartman. As a teenager, Saartjie Baartman was taken from her home in South Africa to London and Paris where she was physically, emotionally, and socially exploited by “researchers” who were finding ways to prove racial inferiority. She was named the “Hottentot Venus” by Europeans where she “danced” and performed exhibiting what “researchers” have termed her protruding genitalia, specifically her buttocks. Investigating her life and stereotypical images of the Black female body in the American Imagination provides a vehicle to examine the preconceived notions that students bring with them to the classroom. Saartjie Baartman, Mammy, Sapphire, and “Jezebel” are juxtaposed with the experiences of three Black female faculty members to illustrate the continued struggle to adopt more positive images of Black women in history and in popular culture. Through interviews and observations, three Black female faculty members from a Mid-western university were studied using Black Feminist Thought (Collins, 1998, 2000) and Performativity (Butler, 1990) as frameworks. Though these women experienced feelings of isolation and invisibility within academe, the classroom becomes a sanctuary where in they are reminded why they teach. They face resistance from students in the classroom, yet this space provides an opportunity to renew their ideas and their passion to produce critical thinkers and socially just learners.
Denise Taliaferro Baszile (Advisor)
96 p.
Education, General
Saartjie Baartman; Black Feminist Thought; Performativity; Stereotypical Images of Black Women; Black Female Faculty; Teaching experiences

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Howard, S. D. (2007). STANDING ON THE AUCTION BLOCK: TEACHING THROUGH THE BLACK FEMALE BODY [Doctoral dissertation, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1187188330

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Howard, Shewanee. STANDING ON THE AUCTION BLOCK: TEACHING THROUGH THE BLACK FEMALE BODY. 2007. Miami University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1187188330.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Howard, Shewanee. "STANDING ON THE AUCTION BLOCK: TEACHING THROUGH THE BLACK FEMALE BODY." Doctoral dissertation, Miami University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1187188330

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1187188330
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© 2007, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.