Cherie Dawson-Edwards

Dr. Cherie Dawson-Edwards serves as Associate Dean for Diversity, Engagement, Culture & Climate (DECC) and an Associate Professor of the Department of Criminal Justice in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Louisville. She is a passionate educator who is an exemplar of a justice-oriented scholar who focuses on the intersection of public policy and criminal justice with a specific focus on race, schools, and juvenile justice. Throughout her career, she has worked tirelessly for institutional community change, always striving to bring greater equity and inclusion to the policies and practices of organizations. She also currently serves at the Kentucky affiliate representative on the national board of the ACLU with a recent appointment as the nationwide ACLU Deputy Affiliate Equity Officer. She has worked with numerous school districts conducting professional development trainings and consulting on racial equity and restorative justice practices in order to combat the school-to-prison pipeline. Notably, Dr. Dawson-Edwards is an accomplished scholar with a variety of publications for scholarly audiences, policymakers, organizations, and the community.

Keynote: "White Institutions, Racialized Emotional Labor and BIPOC Scholar Fatigue" 

Date: Wednesday, April 21, 12-1 pm EST

Description: Racialized emotional and intellectual labor in white spaces is a burden placed on BIPOC scholars that can impact our productivity, lead to racial trauma, and induce burnout or fatigue. BIPOC scholars must exist in complex environments where we must choose to engage in our own objectification or risk ostracization (see Pierce 2003, 2012). Research affirms that racialized emotional labor by BIPOC persons is often expected and adjacent to our inclusion in the academy (Evans & Moore, 2015). As such, it is not valued or seen as a contribution that should be rewarded or compensated. This presentation will explore the extant literature on racialized emotional and intellectual labor in white institutional spaces while introducing a developing framework for compensating this labor. Participants will be challenged to examine their expectations for their BIPOC colleagues to engage in anti-racist discourse as acts of academic service to the institution or field.