Kinitra Brooks visits AALCI

Few African American literature scholars have developed the kind of following that Professor Kinitra Brooks has. In addition to learning about works by Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, and bell hooks, students at UTSA who enroll in Professor Brooks's courses have the advantage of also studying the cultural implications of comic books, the racial anxieties of horror, and the gendered nuances of zombie movies.

On June 13, Professor Brooks met with our Fellows to discuss her developing book project related to the presence of African Americans in horror movies. Brooks discussed the opportunities and barriers associated with producing scholarship on pop culture.  She also shared a recent draft of her book proposal with the Fellows and facilitated a conversation about approaches to researching and writing.

Brooks's presentation provided our group with a close view of the early writing stages of scholarly project. They also received the participate in a discussion about drafting and revising processes. The presentation was a key hands-on activity for our Fellows.

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Bryan Carter visits AALCI 2012

June 7 and 8, Literature scholar and techno-guide-extraordinaire Bryan Carter led workshops with our Fellows related to various online applications and how they might incorporate technology into their academic activities. Carter visited our institute in 2010 and 2011, and has always offered a range of insight and entries into the latest in what we should be up on related to technology.


This year he introduced us to more than a dozen applications, including Layar creator, Zotero, Vokle, Qik, iPadio, Spreecast, Spreaker, Dropbox, evernote, mixlr, sidecar, and bambouser. Carter also led the Fellows on a tour of Virtual Harlem on Second Life. Our movements over the course of those two days with Carter were, as usual, a whirlwind of activity and quite useful for expanding our sense of what's possible with technology.

What has been especially notable to me having observed Carter's presentations for three years now has been how up-to-date he remains on the latest technological applications and gadgets. Each year, he introduces a new batch of at least a dozen applications.  It's fascinating and inspiring to witness the results of a scholar's interest in continually knowing what's new and useful out there.

African American literary scholars and Black Studies scholars could learn a lot from the processes of sharing and staying on the cutting edge that seem central to the tech communities to which Bryan Carter belongs.

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The Relentless Mission of Bryan Carter (2011)
AALCI and Second Life (2011)
Building Technological Consciousness (2010)
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Two Fellows celebrate birthday

For the last couple of years, at least one of our Fellows celebrated a birthday during the course of our Institute. This year, two of our Fellows turned 21 on  June 4. Institute founder/director Joycelyn Moody arranged a small surprise reception for us to celebrate the two Fellows's birthday.

The reception came at the end of our first full day of the program. What better way to get started than with a surprise cake and ice cream?

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2012 Fellows Visit UTSA Library

Juli McLoone presents with Fellows

On Monday, June 4, we made our annual visit to John Peace Library at UTSA to meet with reference librarian Tara Schmidt and rare books librarian Juli McLoone. As always, Schmidt and McLoone helped to empower our fellows to better understand the possibilities for research.
  
Our group participated in two exercises focusing on library research and presentations. First, McLoone led the group in an activity that focused on materials associated with the Sterling Houston Papers. Schmidt led an activity concentrating on utilizing the library's online material to develop small presentations with the online application Glogster.  

In addition to their formal presentations, McLoone and Schmidt have provided our groups with useful assistance over the years solidifying research projects. They listen as our Fellows discuss their projects, and then they begin raising questions and offering suggestions for using library resources, which really assists us in gaining a sense of direction with our various research activities.  

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African American Literatures and Cultures Institute 2012

Sunday, June 3, We opened the third year of the African American Literatures and Cultures Institute (AALCI). Our program founder, Joycelyn Moody has made it happen again.

This year, we have 9 Fellows from various universities--Hampton University, St. John's University, North Carolina A & T, Michigan State University, Savannah State University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Tuskegee University, and two from Lehigh University.

This week, we've discussed the Atlantic slave trade and slave ships, poetry, archival research, and graduate school applications.

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A Big Week for AALCI

Cherrelle Denwiddie & Alysha Griffin reading Hughes at the AALCI Institute, June 2010

Turns out that this was an important week for AALCI. I heard from two of the students from our first class (2010) of fellows -- Alysha Griffin and Cherrelle Denwiddie -- who just completed their first week of graduate courses.

Alysha is at the University of Kansas, and Cherrelle is at Howard University. Their acceptance and now start at the programs are another development in the dreams that our founder/director Joycelyn Moody had when she envisioned the Institute.

Of course, we cannot take full credit for Alysha's and Cherrelle's achievements. They were outstanding young scholars already when we met them. Cherrelle was then a student at Fisk, where she was an active leader and cultural worker on her campus. Alysha was a student at Spelman College, where, among other things, she worked with "the" Donna Akiba Sullivan Harper, a wonderful scholar-guidance machine. Both Alysha and Cherrelle were also UNCF/Mellon Fellows. So, in other words, they were already moving forward in progressive ways.

But AALCI, well, we still "laid our hands" on these two up and coming young scholars. Alysha and Cherrelle were involved from day one with our activities, being shaped by the Institute and also helping to shape it in important ways. I have all kinds of wonderful memories of the two young sister-scholars engaging in discussions with their fellow Institute fellows and with Moody on topics related to black culture, artistic and humanities projects, and the possibilities of becoming college professors and literary scholars.

Oh, and interestingly enough, one of our guest speakers last year was Dana Williams, who chairs the English program at Howard University. Williams and Cherrelle met  at our Institute, and now Cherrelle is there in D.C. Prof. Moody earned her Ph.D. at the University of Kansas, and now, Alysha is there. Funny how small the world is.


It was a year ago now, but I have this distinct memory of sitting on a park bench with Alysha and Cherrelle in Washington Square Park in New York City and talking about how someday they would start graduate school. On that same day, they teamed up to compete against one of the chess masters in the park.

Alysha & Cherrelle teaming up against a chess master in NYC

I took a couple of photos of them playing chess that day thinking that it was a good moment of thoughtful young sister-scholars involved with AALCI making moves. That photo and thought came to mind today as I realized that they were continuing their journeys in graduate programs. It was a big and good week for AALCI. 

Technology and AALCI

Yesterday, the last day of our summer institute, I tried to start envisioning how we should approach the reading list for the summer of 2012 session.

I began by wondering aloud to program director Joycelyn Moody what we should do less of next summer. We had more questions than answers. But Moody was certain about what we should increase, which she summed up in just two words: "More Alondra."

We read a single, short essay by Columbia University professor Alondra Nelson about "afrofuturism," a framework for thinking about intersections of African American culture, technology, and speculative narratives. Alondra also participated with our fellows in a Q & A session on twitter.