Slideshow
Introduction
Professor Dawn Person, Ed.D
Co-director, California State University, Long Beach
Early Identification of Children At-Risk for Learning Difficulties
Professor Penny Chiappe, Ph.D.
University of California, Irvine
Distributed Leadership in an Urban High School
Diego Ochoa
Emphasis Campus: California State University, Los Angeles
AERA (April 2005)
Making the 'Race' Even:
How Small Schools Support the Achievement of Urban Youth
Profesor Gil Conchas, Ph.D.
University of California, Irvine
Womanist Theory: A Lens to View the African American Female Experience
Shelia Hill
Emphasis Campus: California State University, Long Beach
Designing Computer-based Learning Games in Teacher Education
A Cognitive Constructionist Approach to Pedagogy
Kim Burge, Ed.D., Lecturer, Director of MAT
University of California, Irvine
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Professor Liane Brouillette, Ph.D.
University of California, Irvine
From Observation to Explanation: The Other Way
Meri Beckham
Emphasis Campus: California State University, Long Beach
Association for Psychological Type (APT) International Conference (July 2005)
American College Personnel (ACPA) Association (April 2005)
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Womanist Theory: A Lens to View the African American Female Experience
Shelia Hill
Cohort #1
California State University, Long Beach
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Synopsis of Presentation
Womanist Theory: A Lens to View the African American Female Experience
The lived experiences of African American female college students represent a unique perspective of American higher education. For too long have individuals attempted to articulate these experiences without addressing the complexities involved in experiencing life through the lens of multiple oppressions. Howard Hamilton (2004) states, “Selecting appropriate theories for understanding the needs of African American women should, however, be based on their cultural, personal, and social contexts, which clearly differ significantly from those of men and women who have not experienced racial and gender oppression (p. 21).” Womanist theory provides that lens.
African American women's college persistence and their use of specific coping mechanisms in order to succeed in college and in establishing their racial and intellectual identities have been ignored in the literature. These coping mechanisms differ significantly from those employed by Black males (Howard-Hamilton, 2004).
Black feminist thought, or Womanist theory, provides insight into issues facing African American women (Banks-Wallace, 2000). Womanist theories affirm and rearticulate the lived experiences of African American women (Banks-Wallace, 2000; Collins, 2000). African American women scholars developed these theoretical frameworks to more accurately reflect the African American woman's perspective. This presentation will explore the formation of Womanist theory and review the four main tenets involved in Womanist epistemology.
Womanist or Black feminist thought are ideas produced by black women that articulate and clarify the Black woman's perspective. This theoretical perspective addresses African American women's right to self describe, accounts for the experiences of multiple oppression, and acknowledges the uniqueness of each woman's journey. Womanist epistemology is grounded in the belief that concrete experiences are criterions of meaning and that dialogue is used in assessing knowledge claims. It also believes that an ethic of caring and that an ethic of personal responsibility are established in this process.
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