College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

In this talk, Dr. Tichavakunda highlights pressing findings from his year-long ethnography of Black engineering students at a historically White institution, Black Campus Life. Antar Tichavakunda takes readers across campus, from study groups to parties and beyond, as these students work hard, have fun, skip class, fundraise, and, at times, find themselves in tense racialized encounters. By centering their perspectives and demonstrating how different campus communities, or social worlds, shape their experiences, Tichavakunda challenges assumptions about not only Black STEM majors but also Black students and the “racial climate” on college campuses more generally. Most fundamentally, Black Campus Life argues that Black collegians are more than the racism they endure. He will specifically highlight the role of space/place in forging and supporting Black communities on historically White campuses.

Featured Speaker:

Dr. Antar Tichavakunda, Assistant Professor of Education, University of Cincinnati, highlights pressing findings from his year-long ethnography of Black engineering students at a historically White institution. He takes readers across campus, from study groups to parties and beyond, as these students work hard, have fun, skip class, fundraise, and, at times, find themselves in tense racialized encounters. Most fundamentally, he argues that Black collegians are more than the racism they endure. He will specifically highlight the role of space/place in forging and supporting Black communities on historically White campuses.

Sponsors:

African American Studies Program, Office of the Chief Diversity Officer, Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, The University of Florida Graduate School