Our names are Bridget Turner Kelly and Sharon Fries-Britt and we are editing an exciting new book that is tentatively called, “Retaining Each Other: Black Women Academics.” Our vision for the book is that it illustrates and advances the many ways Black women doctoral students and professors are supporting and retaining each other in the academy. Our hope is that this book will include authors who engage in rich, interdisciplinary, intersectional, and intergenerational ways to uplift Black women academics. Chapters will interrogate the ways Black women experience academia and how their retention efforts address their needs. We encourage authors to reflect on the multilayered ways in which all of their experiences (in and outside of the academy) are influenced by identity at the intersection of race and gender; amongst other salient aspects of their identities. We expect chapters to include stories of how you connected and met other Black women academics, empirical scholarship on retention of Black women, support mechanisms for Black Women academics, experiences of intersectional bodies of Black women, retention programs developed by Black women, and mentoring efforts created and implemented by Black women for Black women academics. The book project is tentatively organized into five sections around Black women retaining each other in the areas of:
- Teaching, research, service
- Political navigation
- Personal integration with the professional world
- Holistic view of being a Black woman in and out of the academy
- Future direction of Black women academics.
Authors are invited to write within and/or across any of these suggested themes or to imagine beyond. In terms of logistics, we are asking that you keep in mind, if your abstract is reviewed favorably, each chapter will be 4000-5000 words. We also encourage great flexibility in regards to writing style and approach. Please submit an abstract of 200-300 words with title and brief bio of author(s) to Nancy Camarillo (ncamaril@umd.edu) by March 31st, 2020. You will receive notice of whether your abstract garnered an invitation to submit a draft chapter by May 15th, 2020. Chapters will be due by August 1st, 2020.