The Black Experience and Navigating Higher Education Through a Virtual World: (Advances in Mobile and Distance Learning)

The treasure of the Black experience at a Historically Black College/University (HBCU) is that it offers a personal and intimate experience rooted in Black heritage that cannot be found at other institutions. On campus, face-to-face instruction and activities focused on addressing issues that plague the Black community are paramount. This provides students with small classroom environments and the personal support from administrators, faculty, and staff. In March 2020, the Black experience was interrupted when a global pandemic forced governors to declare states of emergencies and mandate stay-at-home orders. The stay-at-home orders forced universities to transition into fully remote environments. Doing so heightened an array of emotions compounded by the reality of previously recognized disparities in resources and funding amongst higher education institutions. As a result of this abrupt transformation, the HBCU experience was impacted by positive and negative implications for Black people at the campus, local, state, and national levels. The Black Experience and Navigating Higher Education Through a Virtual World explores the reality of the Black experience from various perspectives involving higher education institutions with a focus on HBCUs. The book provides an overview and analysis of a virtual experience that goes beyond the day-to-day technological implications and exposes innovative ideas and ways of navigating students and faculty through a remote world. It focuses on heightening the awareness of disparities through the Black experience in a virtual environment, provides guidance on transitioning to fully remote environments, examines leadership dynamics in virtual environments, analyzes mental health balance, and examines implications on the digital divide. Covering topics such as online course delivery, self-health, and social justice, this book is essential for graduate students, academicians, diversity officers in the academy, professors, and researchers.

About the Author :
Kimetta R. Hairston, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor and oversees Administration, Academics, and Virtual Engagement at Bowie State University in the College of Education. She received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an Interdisciplinary Certificate in Diversity and Disability Studies from the University of Hawaii at Manao. Her primary research focuses on curriculum and instruction, qualitative research design, diversity, and culturally responsive pedagogy. She was nominated and served as a 2018-2019 American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow. Her commitment and experience in social justice include publications on diversity and cultural awareness, Black women in leadership, and diversity and interdisciplinary studies in K-20 curricula. One of her professional accomplishments includes establishing the sole proprietorship, Critical Diverse Interventions (CDI) Consulting. Over her 25+ years in education, she has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, & encyclopedia references. Dr. Hairston has also presented at over 85 local, state, national, and international conferences and workshops. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Wendy M. Edmonds , Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at Bowie State University, is Chair of the Followership Learning Community at the International Leadership Association – the largest followership research and practitioner group in the world, and the author of, inTOXICating FOLLOWERSHIP and co-editor of When Leadership Fails: Individual, Group, and Organizational Lessons from the Worst Workplace Experiences, released in 2021. She is also the recipient of The Chair Academy Idahlynn Karre Exemplary Leadership Award 2018 and the 2020 Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Emerging Scholar Award. Recognized internationally as a scholar-practitioner in followership, an emerging field of study in organizational leadership, Dr. Edmonds is the first researcher to conduct focus group studies with survivors of the 1978 Jonestown Massacre that occurred in Guyana, which fueled her interest in “toxic followership.” Dr. Edmonds’ most recent work focused on the lived experiences of victims of domestic violence in relation to followership and the impact of spirituality. Shanetia P. Clark , Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Literacy in the Department of Early and Elementary Education at Salisbury University. Prior to joining the faculty at Salisbury University, Dr. Clark taught seventh grade English in Richmond, Virginia, and served as the Site-Director of the Capital Area Writing Project. Her research interests include young adult and children's literature, the exploration of aesthetic experiences within reading and writing classrooms, and writing pedagogy. She teaches courses in children's literature, creative arts in literacy, and language arts methods. In addition, Dr. Clark supervises interns in local schools. She is the co-editor of the Voices from the Middle, the National Council of English middle level peer-reviewed journal.