Debra Smith

Related People
Cheryl Kane
Paula Connolly
Jessica "J.B." Burke
Robin James
Javier Garcia Leon
Erik Waterkotte
Elise Berman
Sean McCloud
Andrew Leventis
James Grymes
Jonathan Crane
Mary Atkinson
Aaron Toscano
Jay Morong
Heather Freeman

Dr. Debra C. Smith is Associate Professor of Africana Studies.  Her research and teaching interest include Health and Environment, Medical Humanities, African-Americans in communication and popular culture, minority images in the media.

Education:

  • Ph.D., University North Carolina-Greensboro
  • M.A., University North Carolina-Charlotte
  • M.A., East Carolina University
  • B.A., University North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Areas of Interest:

  • African-Americans in Communication and Popular Culture
  • Minority Images in Media
  • Medical Humanities
  • Health and Environment
  • Teaching Strategies utilizing Popular Culture
  • Media Literacy

Books:

Legacies:  African American Female Pioneers.  Cognella Press, 2019

The Words Unspoken: The Hidden Power of Language, Carolina Academic Press, 2008, 142pp (ISBN-10: 1-59460-174-7. ISBN-13: 978-1-59460-174-3)
Recent Publications:

(In Press) Debra C. Smith and Julia Jordan Zachary. “I Woke up Feeling Bad”: Black Studies and a Pedagogy of Emotion. Negro Journal of Education.

(In Press) Debra C. Smith, Black Greek Step Shows. In African Battle Traditions of Insult:  Africana Verbal Arts, Song-Poetry, and Performance edited by Tanure Ojaide.  Palgrave Macmillan Academic Press.  ISBN 978-3-031-15616-8

(In press) Davis, J. Joy and Debra C. Smith.  Heavy is the head that wears the crown:  A Manifestation of Black Girl Magic.  In Mamas, Martyrs, and Jezebels:  Myths, Legends, and Other Lies You’ve Been Told about Black Women.  Edited by Abayomi Animashaun, Black Lawrence Press, 2023.

(2021) Smith, Debra  C., James, C. D., & Griffiths, M. A. Co-brand partnerships making space for the next black girl: Backlash in social justice branding. Psychology & Marketing, 38(12) pp. 2314-2236. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21566

Orbe, Mark, Debra C. Smith, Christopher R. Groscurth & Rex L. Crawley.  “Exhaling So That We Can Catch Our Breath and Sing:  Reflections on Issues Inherent in Publishing Race-related Communication Research.”  Southern Journal of Communication 75 (2); (2010) 184 – 194.

“Critiquing Reality-Based Televisual Black Fatherhood:  A Critical Analysis of Run’s House and Snoop Dogg’s Fatherhood.”  Critical Studies in Media Communications.  25(4): (2008) 393-412.

“Of Brutal Necessity:  Rap Music and Black Language. ”  Making Connections:  Journal for Teachers of Cultural Diversity, Vol, 10, No. 3. (2008) 41-62.

Smith, Robert and Debra C. Smith (2009)  “The Wire:  Media Placement and Postindustrial  Landscapes” (pp. 73-93).  In Zachery Williams (ed) Africana Cultures and Policy Studies: Scholarship and the Transformation of Public Policy.  New York:  Palgrave Macmillan (Series Editors:  Manning Marable and Peniel Joseph).

“Reading, Writing and Watching TV:  The Pedagogy of the Pre-Schooler:  A Case Study in Teaching Media Literacy” (2009): pp 173-189.  In  Marcus Leaning (ed) Issues in Information and Media Literacy: Education, Practice and Pedagogy.    Santa Rosa:  Informing Science Press.

“Popularizing Folklore in the Age of Text-messaging Millenials.” Folklore Journal, Volume 118, Issue 1, April 2007, Routledge Publishers, (2007) pp 91-99.

“Cartoon Culture: How Maya and Miguel Exceed Beyond the 1990 Children’s Television Act. “Wilson, Leslie (ed) Readings in Popular Culture. Press Americana: The Institute for the Study of Popular Culture, November 2006, pp 105-112.
Current Projects:

  • Dear Charles:  The North Carolina That Black Women Built
  • Soul Labor:  Putting soul work into course work

Courses Taught:

  • AFRS 2105 – Black Images in the Media
  • AFRS 2170 – Health and Environment in the Africana World
  • AFRS 3290 – Research Methods
  • AFRS 3050 – African Americans and Education
  • AFRS 1100 – Introduction to Africana Studies
  • LBST 2102 – Minorities in the Media