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This article presents the findings from a qualitative research project about a group of Black women scholars who discuss their experiences as academics in a predominantly White setting. The scholars represent fields including anthropology, education, Pan African studies, art education, and language studies. The themes found across the interviews include the value of education among their parents and families, the philosophy of mentoring that they espouse, their commitment to service in and beyond the campus, and their productivity within the rubric that Boyer (1990) described as scholarship of discovery, integration, application, and teaching.

This case study presents the findings from a qualitative research project about a Black woman scholar, the first non-White female to serve as chair of a department and the associate dean of the college in its 100 year history. The study focuses on the experiences of a Black woman scholar as a chairperson and the learning she achieved during her journey. It also documents the values she held as a leader in an academic environment and the way in which she brought her understanding of culture, her servant leadership, and its implications to bear on the role she negotiated during her tenure. The themes found across the three interviews that were conducted with the subject in the study and the interview with each of her two mentors include the management, challenges, and cultural aspects of being Black and female in a predominantly White work place. This rubric organized the journey of the work life of Willa and her perception of the way in which she navigated the terrain as a Black woman administrator who had to create her own vision of leadership as a scholar.

Reading and Writing for Adolescence and Adulthood is a course for teacher candidates that introduces them to arts-based literacy instruction. The purpose is to train teachers to enhance reading and writing skills in adolescents. The pre-service teachers were encouraged to study theory and perform practical exercises using the arts so that they could share their experience with their own high schools students. Evidence of their growth as teacher/leaders who understand and value the arts, regardless of the content area that they work in, is evident in their comments about arts-based literacy instruction. This study is a reminder that young teachers from all backgrounds represent a significant opportunity to change the course of literacy instruction so that more youth are successful in and outside of formal learning institutions.

This pre-college filmmaking class represents the writing process in a setting that acknowledges multiple forms of representation for effective communication. Students were introduced to the skills used by filmmakers and encouraged to write, script, design, edit and cast their productions for a final screening five weeks after they began their journey in the college-bound program. Evidence of their growth as writers and producers is given in their testimony to the new levels of awareness of the way in which they have improved as writers and artists. This project is a signal that the writing process can be revamped to meet the standards of media literate adolescents in the precollege environment. Academic programs that value student talent in its many forms are encouraged to give the time, expertise, and support necessary to bring the filmmaking arts to the pre-college youth in their charge.

The Media Project was created to facilitate the journey of "inner city" high school students as they learned to make their first short films. Their leader chose to enlist the support of a professional cinematographer, production manager, editor, and director, to see that the final short films are of a high quality. The six teenagers experienced the project as members of an extensive social network that consisted of Nick, the video production company that sponsored the project, the community members who provided acting talent, the professionals from the film and video community, and Grant State University that provided services for the young filmmakers. Through these people and the circles of support that they represent, the students achieved success as young filmmakers who are valued and celebrated by their elders, peers and family members. The experience of the six Black filmmaking students, in the context of an African-based family system that is created and managed by a Black male filmmaker, has many important features to be noted and studied more deeply for the potential it promises as a model of instruction for other media projects involving youth.

Unraveling the Garment Industry: Transnational Organizing and Women's Work. E. C. Brooks. 2007. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 243 pp. (Includes bibliography; index; illustrations; photographs). $22.50 (Paperback). Nobody can write [...]

This case study presents the findings from a qualitative research project about a Black woman scholar, the first non-White female to serve as chair of a department and the associate dean of the college in its 100 year history. The study focuses on the experiences of a Black woman scholar as a chairperson and the learning she achieved during her journey. It also documents the values she held as a leader in an academic environment and the way in which she brought her understanding of culture, her servant leadership, and its implications to bear on the role she negotiated during her tenure. The themes found across the three interviews that were conducted with the subject in the study and the interview with each of her two mentors include the management, challenges, and cultural aspects of being Black and female in a predominantly White work place. This rubric organized the journey of the work life of Willa and her perception of the way in which she navigated the terrain as a Black woman administrator who had to create her own vision of leadership as a scholar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the potential for using comic strips and comic books as a means to engaging students in the literacy process. A connection is made to the current trend in films and animated television programming, showing how old comic book favorites have made it to the big screen. Student motivation reveals the popularity of reading comic books because the story lines are easily accessible and the artwork aids in comprehension. Bringing comic book pages to life through a workshop format is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This urban filmmaking class represents the multigenre writing process in a new setting. Students were introduced to the skills of an independent filmmaking industry and encouraged to write, script, design, edit, and cast their productions for a final screening six months after they began their journey in the classroom. Evidence of their growth as writers and producers is given in their testimony to the new levels of awareness of the way in which they have improved as writers and young people who are capable of achieving high ideals in and out of the classroom. This project is a reminder that the writing process can be revamped to meet the standards of media literate adolescents in the urban setting, given time, expertise, and the support of the successful adults in the independent filmmaking industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three middle school teachers and a performing artist/activist collaborated on a poetry workshop that lasted 5 weeks. The goal of the workshop was to help students build a repertoire of skills that facilitated their ability to identify the characters in poems, and then perform the poems using the voice and physicality of the people they created. In a series of classes that were co-planned by the artist, who describes herself as an ‘inspector’, and the teachers, a five-step lesson plan evolved that included warm-up, showing, joint practice and demonstration. This lesson plan outline for the workshop allowed the teachers to create activities that were age-appropriate and relevant. The teachers, encouraged to participate in the activities, found themselves being challenged to commit their imaginations and emotions to the creation of characters from the poems that they chose to perform. They also found that students who had previously shown very little interest in classroom activities began to participate at a high level. This process encouraged other reluctant students to take part in the workshop and perform poems personally meaningful to their lives. The workshop fulfilled many of the facets necessary for success in urban classrooms outlined as part of the reform initiative known as the Urban Atlanta Coalition Compact. Through this project, the artist/activist/inspector and the teachers realised the aims of the reform initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]