Debra Smith

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

Debra-SmithDr. Debra C. Smith is Associate Professor of Africana Studies.  Her research and teaching interest include e-Black Studies, African-Americans in communication and popular culture, minority images in the media, contemporary African-American folklore and developing teaching strategies that incorporate popular culture, language and power.

Education:

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

Areas of Interest:

  • African-Americans in Communication and Popular Culture
  • Minority Images in Media
  • African-American Contemporary Folklore
  • Teaching Strategies utilizing Popular Culture
  • Rap Music, Language and Power
  • Media Literacy

Books:

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:

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:

  • Black Teachers’ Use of Media During the Civil Rights Movement (Ethnography)
  • e-Black Studies Collaborative Research Network

Courses Taught:

  • AFRS 2105 – Black Images in the Media
  • AFRS 3050 – Blacks in Communication and Popular Culture
  • AFRS 3050 – Africana Folklore
  • AFRS 1100 – Introduction to Africana Studies
  • AFRS 2203 –  African American Culture
  • LBST 1102 – Film and Society (“The Wire”)
  • LBST 2102 – Minorities in the Media