Ellesia Ann Blaque, Ph.D.

blaqueademics@live.com

 

EDUCATION:

 

Ph.D.  Wayne State University, English: African American Literature

 

M.A.  Wayne State University, English: African American Literature

 

 

B.A.  Temple University, English: African American Literature; History

 

FELLOWSHIPS:

Graduate Teaching Fellowship, 2001-2005

 

King-Parks-Chavez Fellowship, 2002-2005

 

Ronald McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Fellowship, 1999-2001

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

 

AUG 2009 to Pres. / Asst. Professor, Africana & Ethnic Literatures: Kutztown University

In this tenure-track position I facilitate a 4/4 course load, three courses of which I have been given the liberty to design, including Ethnic American literature, the Black Novel, and Afro-Caribbean literature, all of which provide instruction on not only the characteristics of literature, but also the historical and social conditions that inspire the texts.  In addition, I conduct courses in college composition, which center on the core rhetorical modes of writing and MLA citation.  I am also currently serving on three departmental committees and a literary group, three university-wide advisory committees, and provide academic advising to at least 10 students per semester. 

 

JUN 2007 to MAY 2009 / Assoc. Professor, Literature: Palm Beach State College

In this tenure-track position I facilitated multimedia courses in writing and literature, which included American Literature before and after 1865, African American Literature before and after 1900, and Introduction to Afro-Caribbean Literature, which I brought to the Eissey campus.  In composition courses, the topics generated by the selected texts were utilized to expose students to the history corresponding with their specific course topics.  Teaching a minimum 6/6 load did not inhibit my participation in several committees and clubs, including the Curriculum, Diversity, and Holocaust committees, as well as the chess club.  During my stay at PBCC I was fortunate to provide academic advising to dozens of students, three of whom transferred to Temple University as English majors interested in pursuing a doctorate in the field and one accepted into the Temple’s Fox School of Business.

 

OCT 2006 to MAY 2007 / Adjunct Instructor: Camden County College-Blackwood

As an Instructor for this community college I worked with remedial and first level students to reach learning outcomes appropriate for college level writing.  In this capacity I was able to use technology in the classroom to improve students’ reading and communication skills and broaden their respective knowledge bases to include critical analysis of literature, history, and culture through purposeful research in their preparation for first level literature courses.

 

MAY 2004 to AUG 2005 / Graduate Research Asst.: Wayne State University

As a research assistant I was responsible for designing an interactive, online survey targeting Wayne State’s student body concerning their awareness of, participation with, and interest in Africana Studies not only in their academic experiences at the university, but also during their secondary schooling and personal lives.  This included, but was not limited to, consulting with the department’s Chair with regard to the logistics of the questionnaire, as well as the university’s technology center to determine means of survey distribution and transmission, data receipt, processing and analysis, and database design.  During the post-consult stage of the project, I was solely responsible for composing the survey’s questions, receiving respondent data, analyzing data received, and producing a final report of the findings to the department of Africana Studies for use in making future curriculum decisions and designs.

 

SEP 2002 to MAY 2005 / Graduate Teaching Asst.: Wayne State University

As a G.T.A., I fully facilitated courses in the Humanities, specifically, composition, African American Literature, intermediate writing, and special topics for upper level students, including Hip Hop, the Harlem Renaissance, nineteenth-century black fiction, and black drama produced during the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement.  My responsibilities included designing instructional materials for students, such as syllabi and daily lesson plans for all courses taught, issuing all grades, providing one-on-one instruction, maintaining office hours, participating in writing and teaching seminars, and acting as an academic/curriculum advisor based upon students’ requests and needs.

 

SEP 1998 to AUG 2001 / English Tutor: Temple University

v  Alternative School Instructor: Youth Opportunity Center
In this position, I instructed a small group of teens enrolled in an alternative school in reading, writing and research.  Participants not only read nineteenth-century African American Literature, but also learned how to navigate the Internet, conduct online research, and composing a research paper using MLA style citation.

v  Assistant Web Designer/Department of English
In this work-study position, I designed new instruction pages and updated and/or altered existing pages for the ISLLC web site created to provide faculty members access to national teaching resources.  This included, but was not limited to database design, logo alterations, and front end web design.

v  Computer Technician: Allegheny Alternative School
With the goal of providing Internet access and technical training to alternative school students in the North Philadelphia area, I organized and implemented a plan to construct twenty-five computers with Internet capability using discarded parts donated to the school.  In addition, I composed a Beginner Tool Kit designed to introduce students to the Internet and online research.

v  Temple Tutors: Gear-Up
Working with staff members at the North Philadelphia YMCA, I tutored and mentored children ranging in age from six to sixteen by assisting them with homework and reading assignments during after school hours in an effort to improve their reading, writing, and communication skills.  In addition, I often completed the weekly payroll for the program in for Temple’s Vice Provost’s office.

 

MAY 1997 to AUG 1997 / Web Teaching Asst.: Young Scholars

In this summer job I assisted two Temple University professors in facilitating a six week course for Philadelphia teens in the areas of web design, MS Office, UNIX, Internet browsers, email, HTML, and design programs, such as Adobe PageMaker, Photoshop, and Netscape Publisher.

TEACHING and PRESENTATION EXPERIENCE

v  African American Literature, History, and Life

·     Literature and Poetry of The Black Atlantic

·     Slave Narratives and Early African American Fiction

·     Nineteenth Century Black Nationalist Prose

·     Black Fiction and Poetry from the Nadir

·     Harlem Renaissance Prose, Poetry, and Fiction

·     Black Drama, particularly during the Black Arts Movement

·     Blaxploitation, Urban, and American films, specializing in film derived from canonized American literature

·     Black Feminist Literature, Prose, and Theory

·     Hip Hop Lyrics, Culture, and Discourse

v  Afro-Caribbean Poetry, Prose, and History

·     Francophone Social and Psychoanalytic Theory, and Negritude (Aimé Césaire, Léon Damas and Léopold Sédar)

·     Trinidadian Social Theory (C.L.R. James)

·     Caribbean Poetry (Louise Bennett and Kamau Brathwaite)

·     Caribbean Fiction (Edwidge Danticat, Derek Walcott, Jamaica Kincaid)

v  American Ethnic Literature (Latino/a, Asian, and Native American literatures)

v  American Literature before and after 1865

v  Nineteenth Century American Literature and Social Women’s Movements

 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Chapters

 “Blaque on Black: Teaching Race in America’s Predominantly White Universities.”  Reflections on Practice: Teaching ‘Race’ and Ethnicity in Further and Higher Education.  Steve Spencer and Malcolm Todd, eds.  London: The Centre for Sociology, Anthropology and Politics, 2006.

“‘I am More than a Victim’: The Slave Women Stereotype as Inscribed by Black Men in Antebellum Slave Narratives.”  Blackberries and Redbones: Articulations of Black Hair/Body Politics in Africana Communities.  Regina E. Spellers, and Kimberly R. Moffitt, eds.  Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2010.

Books (under review)

v Epic Connections: Inscriptions of the African American Experience.  2 vols.

v Imagined Identities: Adapting White Notions of Black Female Bodies in African American Literature before the Renaissance

 

Selected Reference Articles

“Black Nationalism.”  The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature.  J. David Macey, Jr. and Hans Ostrom, eds.  Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005.

“Black Nationalism.” The Feminist Encyclopedia of African American Literature.  Betsy Beaulieu, ed.  Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005.

“Black Politicians.”  The Greenwood Encyclopedia of the Reconstruction Era.  Richard Zuczek, ed.  Westport, CT:  Greenwood Press, 2006.

“Black Power.” The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature.  J. David Macey, Jr. and Hans Ostrom, eds.  Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005.

“College Courses in Hip Hop Literature.”  The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Hip Hop Literature.  Tarshia Stanley, ed.  Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008.

 “Henry Dumas.”  African American National Biography.  Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, eds.  New York: Oxford UP, 2007.

“Negro Exodus.”  The Anti-Slavery Encyclopedia.  Jack McKivigan, and Peter Hinks, eds.  Westport, CT:  Greenwood Press, 2006.

“Gil Scott-Heron.”  The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature.  J. David Macey, Jr. and Hans Ostrom, eds.  Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005.

“Hip-Hop.”  The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature.  J. David Macey, Jr. and Hans Ostrom, eds.  Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005.

 Philadelphia and Chester Riots of 1918.”  The Encyclopedia of American Race Riots.  Walter Rucker, Gen. Ed.  Westport, CT:  Greenwood Press, 2006.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Riot of 1964.”  The Encyclopedia of American Race Riots.  Walter Rucker, Gen. Ed.  Westport, CT:  Greenwood Press, 2006.

 “Rap.” The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature.  J. David Macey, Jr. and Hans Ostrom, eds.  Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005.

“Solomon Northup.”  The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature.  J. David Macey, Jr. and Hans Ostrom, eds.  Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005.

“The Lynching of Mary Turner.”  The Encyclopedia of American Race Riots.  Walter Rucker, ed.  Westport, CT:  Greenwood Press, 2006.

 

WORKING PAPERS:

v  “I am Sarah Bartman: Understanding the Origins of Black Female Stereotypes” 

v  “Frederick Douglass: Futurist Activist” 

v  “Charles Chesnutt and the 19th Century Discourse on Racial Equity”

v  “Black Bulwarks: Redefining Myths of Utility in the American Home”

v  “Elements of Empathy: The Character Balance of Slave Novels”

v  “David Walker: Nineteenth Century Black Nationalism and Its Place in the Cycle of Institutional Racism”

v  “Dispelling the Myths: The Many Faces of Black Nationalism”

v  “From Motown to Hockeytown: The Whitening of Detroit

v  “Garveyism and Black Nationalism”

v  “Mr. Ryder: A Transition from Old to New Negro in the Work of Charles W. Chesnutt”

v  “Reporting the Real: Literacy, Slave Narratives, and the Gothic”

v  “Sexual Coercion and Nineteenth Century American Women”

v  “Slave Rhetoric: Providing Acceptability to the Northern White Audience”

v  “The Double-Voice Language of Empire”

v  “Victorian Women: Character Representation an Empire in Charles Dickens’ Dombey and Son

 

LECTURES and PRESENTATIONS

v  “Maria Stewart and Nineteenth Century Black Feminism.”  Voices and Choices: Black History Month Series.  Rohrbach Library: Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA 21 Feb. 2010.

v  Charles Chesnutt and the 19th Century Discourse on Racial Equity.”  Human Rights and the Humanities.  South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA).  Atlanta, GA 7 Nov. 2009.

v   “Frederick Douglass: The First Male Black Feminist.”  The Frederick Douglass Institute Speaker Series.  Rohrbach Library: Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA 21 Oct. 2009.

v  “I am Sarah Bartman: Understanding the Origins of Black Female Stereotypes.”  Seminar in Women’s Studies.  Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA.  5 Oct. 2009.

v  “Using Contemporary Hip-Hop to Teach Africana Intellectual Heritage.”  English Teachers as Spirit Guides: Directing Student in Artistic Quests.  English Association of Pennsylvania State Universities.  Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA.  23 Oct. 2009.

v   Finding Dr. King’s American Dream.”  Movies of the Mind.  Palm Beach Community College.  Palm Beach Gardens, FL.  10 Feb. 2009.

v  “From Mammies and Jezebels to Bit*hes and Hoes: Black Male Rhetoric in the Performance of Words and Images in Popular Rap Music Culture.”  Fame and Infamy: The 50th Annual M/MLA Convention.  Minneapolis, MN.  13-16 Nov.  2008. 

v  “Sexual Circumscription of Early Modern American Women in Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence.”  Movies of the Mind.  Palm Beach Community College.  Palm Beach Gardens, FL.  24 Apr. 2008.

v  “Self-Esteem and Reaching Your Goals.”  2008 Upward Bound Conference.  Palm Beach Community College, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.  9 Jun. 2008.

v  “Educating Blaque: Obtaining a Ph.D. in African American Literature within American English Departments.”  The International Black Diaspora Conference: Theorizing the Black Diaspora.  DePaul University, Chicago.  19 May.  2006.  This presentation was also given at the permanent session in African American Literature at the annual M/MLA conference in Chicago, Illinois, 10 Nov. 2006.

v  “From Mammies and Jezebels to Bit*hes and Hoes: Performing Word and Image using Cultural Icons of Black Female Stereotypes.”  The Sixth Annual Graduate Humanities Forum Conference: Word and Image.  The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.  17 Feb. 2006.

v  “The Truth about MOVE.” Lecture for the Ronald McNair Fellows at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 2005.

v  “Resisting the Slave Woman Stereotype: Critiques of Inscriptions by Black Men in Slave Narratives” presented at The Black Body: Imagining, Writing, and (Re) Reading conference at DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois, 24 Apr. 2004.

v  “‘I am More than a Victim’: The Slave Woman Stereotype in Antebellum Narratives by Black Men” presented at the Seventh Annual Joint Fellows Conference: Kellogg Center; Michigan State University, Lansing, Michigan, November 2003. 

v  “Slave Rhetoric: Providing Acceptability to the Northern White Audience through Rhetorical Strategy When Articulating Physical and Sexual Abuse in the Slave Narrative.” Annual Ronald McNair Scholar Program SEAOP Conference, Memphis, Tennessee, June 2001.

v  “David Walker and Bishop Henry Turner: Nineteenth-Century Black Nationalist Thought within the Context of Double Consciousness.” Youth Opportunity Conference: Kiva Auditorium, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 2000.

v  “Insurance Redlining: The Back Door to Housing Discrimination.” Gear-Up Youth Conference: Kiva Auditorium, Temple University, June 1999.

 

ACADEMIC SERVICE

v  Kutztown University (2009-Present)

·       Student Advising

·       Literature Curriculum Group

·       Graduate Program, Development, and Recruiting Committee

·       Temporary Evaluation Committee

·       Frederick Douglass Institute Advisory Board

·       Women’s Studies Advisory Board

v  Palm Beach Community College

·       Holocaust Committee, 2008-2009

·       Diversity Committee, 2008-2009

·       Vice Chair, Curriculum Committee, 2008-2009

·       Committee of Learning Outcomes, 2007-2008

v  Wayne State University

·       Curriculum Committee, 2003-2005

·       Plagiarism Committee, 2001-2003

 

PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES

Made available upon your request.