SUNY Press -- Available September 2009

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Editors:

Stephanie Evans, Colette Taylor, Michelle Dunlap, & DeMond Miller

African Americans and Community Engagement (AACE) discusses race and its roles in university-community partnerships. This edited volume allows students, agency staff, community constituents, faculty, and campus administrators an opportunity to reflect and redefine what impact African American identity--in the academy and in the community--has on various forms of community engagement. From historic concepts of "race uplift" to contemporary debates about racialized perceptions of need (seen in discussion of "urban" communities or service efforts with Hurricane Katrina survivors), African American identity plays a significant role. This volume offers a cogent platform from which to encourage the difficult (yet much-needed) inclusion of race in dialogues of national service and community engagement. Social change can happen more effectively through critically discussing assumptions, expectations, experiences, and perspectives that emerge when placing race at the center of town-gown communication and practice. The AACE chapters represent best practices, recommendations, personal insight, and informed warnings about building sustainable--and mutually beneficial--relationships.

Contributors discuss race and engagement from many different geographic, disciplinary, and cultural positions. Community College, HBCU, and PWIs are present in partnerships that range from art, education, sociology, and public health to history, psychology, and human development. Authors discuss urban, rural, and suburban environments and include perspectives from the following states: California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

This broad collaborative viewpoint is used to closely consider how race is central to communication. The co-editors are all faculty members and administrators who are experienced in community service, service-learning, and community-based research. This research lays groundwork for further exploratory race studies from the perspective of those who have been marginalized in the traditional community engagement literature. We feel that this text will connect historic and contemporary ideas of "service" and encourage a more informed praxis by African American and non-African American change agents.

Preface: Stephanie Y. Evans

Introduction: Colette Taylor

PART I : COMMUNITY SERVICE, VOLUNTEERISM, & ENGAGEMENT

CS Introduction: AACE editors

Kheli R. WillettsThe Community Folk Art Center: A University and Community Creative Collaboration

 Kendall M. Campbell A University's Commitment to the Health of an Underserved Community: Exploring Community Service for a Predominantly African-American Population

Joi Nathan African American College Students and Volunteerism: Attitudes Towards Mentoring at a Title I School

Jeff Brooks Pitfalls, Prejudice and Promise: Experiences in Community Service in an Historically Black College or University (HBCU)

CSL Introduction: Michelle Dunlap

Lucy Mule Can the Village Educate the Prospective Teacher?: Reflections on Multicultural Service- Learning in African American Communities

August Hoffman, Richard Carifo, Eduardo Sanchez, & Julie Wallach Sowing Seeds of Success: Gardening as a Method of Increasing Academic Self-Efficacy and Retention among African American Students

Troy Harden The Liberator or the Sell Out: Issues of Identity, Place, and Praxis for a Black Man as a Service-Learning Educator in a Predominantly White Institution

Annemarie Vaccaro Racial Identity and the Ethics of Service Learning as Pedagogy

Meta Mendel-Reyes & Dwayne Mack We'll Understand it Better By and By": Three Dimensional Approach to Teaching Race Through Community Engagement

CBR Introduction: DeMond Miller

Fleda Mask Jackson Black Like Me: Community-Based Participatory Research with African American Women

Micah McCreary, Monica Jones, John Fife, & Raymond Tademy A Partnership between the African American Church and the University: IMPPACT and S.P.I.C.E.S

Olivia Washington and David Moxley“I Have Three Strikes Against Me”:  Narratives of Plight and Efficacy among Older African American Homeless Women and Their Implications for Engaged Inquiry

Richard Briscoe, Harold Keller, Gwen McClain, Evangeline Best, & Jessica Mazza Implementing A Culturally Competent Community-Based Research Approach with African American Neighborhoods: Critical Components and Examples

GiShawn Mance, Bernadette Sanchez, & Niambi Jaha-Echols Community Engagement and Collaborations in Community-Based Research: The Road to Project Butterfly

Final Word: Donald Blake

EDITORS

Stephanie Y. Evans Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of African American Studies and Women's Studies at the University of Florida. She is the author of Black Women in the Ivory Tower, 1850-1954: An Intellectual History (2007) and articles in journals such as the Florida Historical Quarterly, Feminist Teacher, and International Journal of Humanities. She has practiced community service-learning since 1997 at California State University-Long Beach, Stanford University, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Brown University, and University of Florida.

Colette M. Taylor Ed.D., is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at Texas Tech University. She previously served as an Associate Dean of Students and Director of Student Affairs Research at Middle Tennessee State Universityan. She was responsible for the development of the Community Service and Service Learning at the University of Florida which was implemented as campus volunteer clearinghouse in the fall of 1998.  Dr. Taylor served as a member of the co-chair of Florida Campus Compact Advisory Council from 2002- 2006 and a member of the Florida Campus Compact Consulting Corp from 2003-2006.  She was a member of the Board of Advisors of the Florida Office of Collegiate Volunteerism from 1998-2001 and served as chair from 2000-2001.  Dr. Taylor has taught several service-learning courses and has been a supervisor of the HUD Community Partnership Outreach Center at the University of Florida. Colette has presented at several conferences, such as American College Personnel Association, Southern Association for College Student Affairs, and Florida Campus Compact, on topics ranging from African-American Greek involvement on college campuses, leadership development for student leaders, ethics in student leaders, service-learning and engaging students in community involvement.

Michelle Dunlap Ph.D., is a tenured associate professor and chair of the Human Development Department at Connecticut College, and an educational and community consultant who has worked collaboratively with educational institutions, corporations, state and local agencies, and non-profits.  She is author of Reaching Out to Children and Families: Students Model Effective Community Service (2000, Roman & Littlefield), and co-editor of Community Involvement: Theoretical Approaches and Educational Initiatives (2002, Blackwell) and Charting a New Course for Feminist Psychology (2002, Greenwood/Praeger).    Her areas of specialty include service-learning, child development, adolescent development, social and personality development, and multicultural and diversity issues.  She currently is working on two books, one on minority experiences in the consumer marketplace, and the other on effective child-rearing strategies for Black children and families.

DeMond Shondell Miller Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Liberal Arts and Sciences Institute for Research and Community Service at Rowan University (Glassboro, New Jersey). He has worked as an evaluator for alcohol and tobacco social norms projects and as principal investigator to facilitate research projects involving: environmental issues and community satisfaction. His primary area of specialization is environmental sociology, disaster studies, the study of the social construction of place, community development, and social impact assessment. Dr. Miller has taught several service-learning courses and has been a recipient of the HUD Community Partnership Outreach Center grant.  Dr. Miller has presented and published several professional papers; recent examples of such work can be found in: The Researcher, The Qualitative Report, The Journal of Emotional Abuse, Space and Culture: An International Journal of Social Spaces, International Journal of the Humanities, Journal of Black Studies, The Journal of Public Management and Social Policy, and The Southeastern Sociological Review. 

FINAL WORD

Donald F. Blake Ph.D., is a retired academician who lives in Stanardsville, Va. with his wife of more than 49 years.  He has been an educator, corporate executive, executive director for several community-based non-profit organizations and a partner in three consulting firms.  He and Vera operate their own consulting firm, VDB Consulting Group, LLC.  In higher education he has served at every level from professor/researcher to president.  Currently Dr. Blake is serving as a consultant to the Community Relations Office at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Evangeline R. “Vann” Best is a native of East Tampa community (Florida). She is retiree of the School District working with the Head Start Program. Ms. Best is a community leader recognized for her ability to motivate and organize people from diverse backgrounds.

Dr. Richard Briscoe Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Child and Family Studies at the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute (University of South Florida). His interests are strengths and faith-based research with African-American communities.

Jeff Brooks Ph.D., is a Sociologist who specializes in social psychology and gerontology. He earned his doctorate from Purdue University.  He has an MSW from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Dr. Brooks is also involved in various community services.  

Kendall M. Campbell M.D., is Assistant Dean for Minority Affairs and Assistant Professor Community Health and Family Medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine. His special interests include cardiovascular disease, diabetes and teaching.

Richard Carifo, is a member of a research team at California State University, Northridge.

Niambi Jaha-Echols, is the author of Project Butterfly: Supporting Young Women and Gils of African Descent through the Transitions of Life.  She is also the founder and CEO of two organizations that serve and support the transitional healing of women and girls:  Project Butterfly and Camp Butterfly.

John Fife, is the Director of Counseling and Student Development at Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia.

Troy Harden MSW, LCSW, received his Masters in Social Work from Loyola University at Chicago, and is currently an Ed.D. candidate at DePaul University.  He has over 20 years experience serving in social service and community settings, and currently serves as Faculty and the Director of Field Development for DePaul University’s Masters of Social Work Program. 

August Hoffman Ph.D., August John Hoffman is currently a professor of psychology at California State University Northridge and El Camino College–Compton Center. He earned his B.A. from UC Santa Barbara, M.A. from Radford University in Clinical Psychology (with an emphasis in Sport Psychology), and Ph.D. from UCLA in educational psychology. As a professor of psychology at Compton College, CSU Northridge, and Pepperdine University, he has assisted students from various backgrounds in accomplishing their goals. He began and developed a highly successful gardening program at Compton College in an effort to help students improve their campus and community. He has taught several psychology courses including Motivation and Sport Psychology, which include an applied approach to creating healthy lifestyles for his students. He has published several books and academic research articles, including the texts, Positive Psychology: An Applied Approach; Understanding Sport Psychology and Human Behavior; and, 29,051 Ways to Survive the College Experience.  He enjoys gardening in his time off with his family–Nancy his wife, and two children A.J. and Sara.

Fleda Mask Jackson Ph.D., is a Principal Investigator and faculty member at the Rollins School of Public Health. Formally, the director of the HBCU Network of Campus Compact, she serves on the National Advisory Board on Health Disparities for the Director of the Centers for Disease Control.

Monica Jones M.S., is a doctoral candidate in the Counseling Psychology program in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her clinical and research interests include: community prevention and intervention programming, minority mental health, family psychology, and religion and spiritual values.

Harold R. Keller Ph.D., (University of South Florida) is a Professor in Psychological and Social Foundations, and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Education. He is actively engaged in community-based research and community-based teaching/learning.

Dwayne A. Mack Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of History at Berea College in Berea, KY, specializing in the civil rights movement.  His publications include: “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around: Berea College’s Participation in the Selma to Montgomery March,” Ohio Valley History, Fall 2005; and “Crusade for Equality: The Civil Rights Struggle in Spokane during the Early 1960s,” Pacific Northwest Quarterly, Volume 95 # 1, Winter 2003/2004.

GiShawn Mance Ph.D., is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.  Her fellowship training is in community based participatory research.  Her research primarily focuses on race and culture, chronic stress and coping, and mental health disparities.

Jessica Mazza, is a graduate student at University of South Florida working on her Masters in Public Health in behavioral health. She is experienced in Qualitative and Quantitative research; with interests in children’s mental health and community-based behavioral health services.

Gwen McClain M.A., is the President of R.I.S.E. Consultants, providing, research, evaluation, training, program development, planning, and assessment to individuals, students, professors, colleges and universities, social services, grassroots, faith-based, and other organizations.

Micah McCreary M.Div., Ph.D., LCP, is a 2006-2007 American Council on Education Fellow, a Tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, a licensed Clinical Psychologist in the State of Virginia and an ordained Baptist pastor. He is the executive Director and creator of the IMPPACT family intervention and conducts a small private practice in Richmond, Virginia. He has published articles and chapters in the areas of multicultural and family psychology.

Meta Mendel-Reyes Ph.D., is Director of the Center for Excellence in Learning Through Service (CELTS) and Associate Professor of General Studies at Berea College, in Berea, Kentucky.  She is the author of Reclaiming Democracy: The Sixties in Politics and Memory (New York: Routledge, 1995), and has published articles and chapters on participatory democracy, community engagement, and service-learning.. 

David P. Moxley Ph.D., is in the University of Oklahoma School of Social Work where he holds the Oklahoma Healthcare Authority Endowed Professorship in Health. 

Lucy Mule Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the Department of Education and Child Study, Smith College. Her research interests include multicultural education, teacher education, literacy education, and comparative education.

Joi Nathan currently serves as the coordinator of Youth Programs at the Center for Civic Education and Service at Florida State University.  In addition to her duties with this program, Ms. Nathan is working towards a PhD in Educational Policy, Planning and Analysis. 

Bernadette Sanchez Ph.D., is currently an assistant professor of Psychology at DePaul University.  Her research primarily focuses on youth mentoring relationships, race and culture, and academic achievement.

Eduardo Sanchez, is an undergraduate student at California State University Northridge and is currently studying psychology and research design. He plans to study psychology as a graduate student and continue his studies in race and ethnicity.

Raymond Tademy, is a doctoral student in the Social Psychology Program in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Julie Wallach, graduated from California State University Northridge and has co-authored several books and journal articles addressing motivation, positive psychology and procrastination with Dr. August Hoffman. Her interests include health and exercise and fitness. Ms. Wallach has two daughters and a husband and is very happy living in Malibu, California.

Olivia G. M. Washington Ph.D., APRN, BC, NP, LPC, is a nurse scientist in the Wayne State University College of Nursing and in the Institute of Gerontology where she directs the Healthier Black Elders Center, a civic engagement project designed to improve the health of urban Black elders.

Kheli R. Willetts Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of African American Art History and Film at Syracuse University and Academic Director of the Community Folk Art Center, located in the city of Syracuse.

Annemarie Vaccaro Ph.D., is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Denver (DU).  Her PhD is in Higher Education Administration with an emphasis on teaching about diversity and social justice.  Her most recent publication is the GLBT chapter in a NASPA on-line book about special sub-populations of college students.

RACE, ETHNICITY, AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION CONFERENCE