Stories from the Front of the Room

Michelle Harris is a sociologist who directs the Institute for Global Indigeneity. She is also a Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at theUniversity at Albany, SUNY. Harris has written on acculturation and stress among immigrant Americans and how racial discrimination affects the mental health and well-being of blacks in the United States. Her most recent scholarship explores the politics of indigenous identity.Sherrill L. Sellers is a Professor and Associate Dean in the College of Education, Health & Society at Miami University in Oxford OH. She studies the mental and physical health consequences of social inequalities; intersections of race, genetics, and health; and aging and the life course.Orly Clerge is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Africana Studies at Tufts University in Medford, MA. She is broadly interested in the areas of race and ethnicity, immigration and migration, urban sociology and social demography.Frederick W. Gooding, Jr. is an Assistant Professor within the Ethnic Studies Program at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ. A trained historian, Gooding most effectively analyzes contemporary mainstream media with a careful eye for persistent patterns along racial lines that appear benign but indeed have problematic historical roots.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction to the volumeOrly Clerge, Frederick Gooding, Jr., Michelle Harris, Sherrill L. SellersPART I: Colleagues Part I Introduction: highlights of research literature on colleagues and faculty of colorChapter 1: Dear Fellow Underrepresented Junior Faculty MembersPamela Harris & Alicia Prieto LangaricaChapter 2: Dear ColleaguesMatthew OwareChapter 3: Dear MentorAnonymousChapter 4: Dear ColleagueJeffriAnne WilderChapter 5: Dear Nicole (A Note to Nicole on Becoming Tax-free)Tamika CareyChapter 6: To My Esteemed Colleagues and Inquisitive StudentsCarlotta A. BerryChapter 7: Mentor Essay: Standing Firm upon Unsteady GroundAlford Young PART II: Students Part II Introduction: Research exploring bias in student ratings of teachersChapter 8: An Open Letter to the Black Woman in the Front RowJennifer SimsChapter 9: Dear Black and Racialized StudentsDelores MullingsChapter 10: Dear Fellow Front of the Room AcademiciansKhadijah MillerChapter 11: In Solidarity, Dear StudentVivian Ng Chapter 12: Mentor Essays: Don’t Forget to Reflect on and Fight Your Own BiasesMary Pattillo PART III: Tenure Part III Introduction: literature on teaching, research and serviceChapter 13: Love & Labor in Academia: Dear Faculty Members Who Mentor Doctoral Students of ColorAmeena Ghaffar-KucherChapter 14: Dear Friends and ColleaguesJose SantosChapter 15: Being in the Room: Dear ColleaguesSonja LanehartChapter 16: Liberation and the Denial of an Academic Career: Dear Colleagues AnonymousChapter 17: Mentor Essay: TenureJuan Battle PART IV: Administration Part IV Introduction: Literature on administrative contexts with focus on recruitment and retentionChapter 18: Dear University Hiring Committees and AdministratorsAmanishakete AniChapter 19: Racing It in Academia: Dear Director of the School of Social WorkPatrina DuhaneyChapter 20: Dear LexTeresa GilliamsChapter 21: Dear Unsupported Faculty “Teaching in Color”Chavella PittmanChapter 22: Dear Chief Diversity Officers: Pedigree or Ph.D.? Or, "You Can't Handle the Truth." David HernándezChapter 23: Mentor Essay:Reflections on Higher Ed AdministrationHarvey Charles PART V: ClimatePART IV Introduction: Major themes in the research on faculty of color and campus climateChapter 24: Good Muslims and White Academics: Dear DirectorsUzma JamilChapter 25: Hello, Black Women’s Lives (Don’t) Matter in the AcademyLani V. JonesChapter 26: Dear Junior ScholarDanne E. DavisChapter 27: A Letter from the Ivory TowerAndrea G. HunterChapter 28: Mentor Essay: The TalkEduardo Bonilla-Silva AfterwordAbout the editorsAbout the contributorsIndex

A real-world, up-close look inside the everyday reality of working in historically white Academia, as seen by its most astute observers—the faculty of color who must cope, survive, leave, and thrive in a pervasive white-racist environment.