University of Tennessee Department of History 915 Volunteer Boulevard – Sixth Floor Dunford Hall Knoxville, TN 37996-4065 Email Address: swill132@utk.edu Office Phone Number: 865-974-708
Trang 1SHANNEN DEE WILLIAMS, PH.D
University of Tennessee Department of History
915 Volunteer Boulevard – Sixth Floor Dunford Hall
Knoxville, TN 37996-4065 Email Address: swill132@utk.edu Office Phone Number: (865)-974-7088
FIELDS OF SPECIALIZATION
African-American History, 19th and 20th United States History, Black Catholic History, Black Women’s Religious and Political History, African-American Religious History, Civil Rights and Black Power History, Oral History, Black Feminist and Womanist Thought
EDUCATION
Ph.D African-American and United States History, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, 2013
Graduate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies
Dissertation Title: Black Nuns and the Struggle to Desegregate Catholic America after
World War I Committee Members: Deborah Gray White (chair), Nancy A Hewitt, Donna Murch,
and Rhonda Y Williams
M A Afro-American Studies, University of Wisconsin at Madison, 2006
Thesis Title: "Joan was a Good Girl": Rethinking the Politics of Black Female
Respectability Through the Lens of the Political Trial of Joan Victoria Bird, 1969-1971
Committee Members: Christina Greene (chair), Brenda Plummer, Craig Werner
Tom W Shick Award for Excellence in African-American History, Fall 2005
B.A History, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Agnes Scott College, 2004
Minor: Africana Studies
Independent Study Title: “More Than Four Little Girls: An Interpretation of the
Assassinations of Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole
Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley”
Advisor: Violet Showers Johnson
Michael J Brown Prize, Outstanding Senior Student in History, 2004
Honors Optional Diploma, Craigmont High School, Memphis, TN, 2000
Salutatorian, National Achievement Scholar, Coca-Cola Scholar, AP Scholar
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Assistant Professor of United States and African-American History, with Religious Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies Affiliation
Fall 2014- Present
Trang 2Undergraduate Courses Taught:
African-American History to the Civil War – Fall 2017
African-American History Since the Civil War – Expected Spring 2018
African-American Women’s History – Fall 2014, Fall 2015
African-American Women’s Political Activism –Fall 2017
African-American Religious History – Spring 2015
The History of the Civil Rights Movement – Fall 2015
Senior Seminar: Gender, Sexuality, and the Long Civil Rights Movement – Spring 2016
United States History Since Reconstruction – Expected Spring 2018
Graduate Courses Taught:
Graduate Independent Study: African-American Women’s Political Activism - Fall 2014
Classic and Contemporary Readings in African-American History – Spring 2015
M.A and Ph.D Committee Service:
Sister John Catherine Kennedy, O.P (ABD Candidate)
Nicholas Kovach (Exam Committee 2018)
Denise Harris (M.A., 2015)
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
Postdoctoral Fellow in African-American Studies in History Department
Aug 1, 2013 to July 31, 2014
Course Taught:
The History of Black Women in the United States – Spring 2014
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, IL
Lecturer in United States and African-American History
Aug 16, 2012 to May 10, 2013
Courses Taught:
U.S History to 1877 – Fall 2012, Spring 2013
History of the Civil Rights Movement (undergraduate/graduate level) – Fall 2012
Slavery and the Old South (undergraduate/graduate level) – Spring 2013
Christian Brothers University, Memphis, TN
Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of History and Political Science
Summers 2010 and 2011
Courses Taught:
The Long Civil Rights Movement – Summer 2011
19th and 20th-Century African-American Women’s Political Activism – Summer 2010
PUBLICATIONS
Book
SUBVERSIVE HABITS: THE UNTOLD STORY OF BLACK CATHOLIC NUNS IN THE UNITED
STATES (manuscript to be submitted to Duke University Press)
Trang 3This book charts the epic journey of black women religious in the United States from their fiercely
contested beginnings in the nineteenth-century slave South up to the present day When published, it will
be the first historical survey of African-American sisters and the first to examine their efforts in the fight against racial segregation and exclusion in the church and wider American society
THE REAL SISTER ACT: AN ORAL HISTORY OF BLACK CATHOLIC SISTERS IN THE UNITED STATES (manuscript in progress)
This monograph will feature the oral testimonies of over 50 women of black African descent who entered U.S religious life in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, but whose stories will not figure significantly
into Subversive Habits
FROM SLAVERY TO THE CLOISTER: THE HIDDEN LIVES AND LABORS OF EX-SLAVE NUNS
IN THE UNITED STATES (research in progress)
This book will examine the lived experiences of five women of black African descent who successfully made the journey from slavery to religious life in the nineteenth century By turning critical attention to the
experiences of enslaved women owned by the Catholic Church in North America, this project seeks to join a growing body of scholarship that centers black voices in Atlantic world history and black women in church history
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
“‘You Could Do the Irish Jig, But Anything African Was Taboo:’ Black Nuns, Contested Memories, and the 20th-Century Struggle to Desegregate U.S Religious Life” in the Journal of African
American History, 102, no 2 (Spring 2017): 125-56
“Forgotten Habits, Lost Vocations: Black Nuns, Contested Memories, and the 19th Century Struggle
to Desegregate U.S Religious Life” in Journal of African American History, 101 (Summer 2016):
231-260
“Subversive Images and Forgotten Truths: A Selected Visual History of Black Women Religious”
and “The Color of Christ’s Brides” in American Catholic Studies, 127 (Fall 2016): 14-21 and 93-103
“The Global Catholic Church and the Radical Possibilities of #BlackLivesMatter,” Journal of
Africana Religions, Vol 3, No 4 (2015): 503-515
Book Reviews
Review of The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B Tyson (online edition of America Magazine: The Jesuit Review on April 26, 2017; print edition on May 29, 2017)
Review of Talking to the Dead: Religion, Music, and Lived Memory Among Gullah/Geechee Women
by LeRhonda S Manigault-Bryant, Journal of African American History, 101 (Fall 2016): 577-580 Review of Roy Wilkins: The Quiet Revolutionary and the NAACP, by Yvonne Ryan, Journal of Southern History, LXXXI (May 2015): 511-12
Trang 4Encyclopedia Articles
“The Sisters of Loretto,” “Sister Patricia Haley, SCN,” and “Father Mary Simon (Vincent) Smith,” in
The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2016
“Free African Americans” and “Slavery” in Encyclopedia of U.S Political History Vol 1
Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2010
“Rosa Parks” in Encyclopedia of U.S Political History Vol 6 Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2010
Online Articles and Other Publications
“Congratulations Georgetown Now It’s Time to Own Up to the Racist History of the Catholic
Church.” The History News Network, September 18, 2016
“Why I Study Women Religious,” American Catholic Studies Newsletter 42 (Fall 2015): 17, 22
“Dear Hollywood: It’s Time to Start Making Films about Real Black Catholic Nuns,” Religion
Dispatches, June 10, 2015 Reprinted on Patheos on June 19, 2015 and ForHarriet.com on June 16,
2015
“The Church Is Not Yet Dead,” Interviewed by John Slattery, Daily Theology, May 5, 2015
Reprinted in the July 2015 Newsletter of the National Black Catholic Congress
“Dear U.S Catholic Theologians: The Lives of Black Women and Girls Always Matter,” Patheos, December 12, 2014 *Reprinted on ForHarriet.com on December 13, 2014 *Prompted correction to the U.S Catholic Theologians’ Statement on Police Violence, which initially omitted black women
and girls as victims and opponents of state Violence
“What Must Never Be Forgotten,” United States Catholic Conference of Bishops Blog, August 25,
2014 *Reprinted in USCCB Rebuilding the Bridge: Reflections online in November 2014
Co-authored with Simone Campbell, S.S.S., Adrienne Alexander, and Rev Joseph Nangle, O.F.M
Waking Up to God in Our Midst: Reflections for Advent 2014 Washington, D.C.: Pax Christi, 2014 “‘Influential’ Ugandan Nun Shines Light on Sacred Tradition of Black Catholic Women,” Patheos
Catholic Channel, May 14, 2014
“Celebrating Unsung Black Catholic Women in U.S History,” U.S Catholic Magazine Blog,
February 24, 2014
“Jesus, Santa, and Now Sound of Music’s Mother Abbess,” Religion Dispatches, December 17, 2013 Reprinted on People of Color in European Art History on December 19, 2013
“Segregated Sisterhoods and the Mercurial Politics of Racial Truth-Telling,” The Feminist Wire,
October 24, 2013
Trang 5Editorial Assistant, The Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony, vol 5, Their Place Inside the Body-Politic, 1887 to 1895, ed Ann D Gordon New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers
University Press, 2009
AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS
2017 Honorable Mention in the category of Best Essay Originating with a Scholarly
Magazine, Catholic Press Association for “Subversive Images and Forgotten Truths” 2016-19 Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer (Appointed to 3-Year
Term) March 2016 Inaugural Woman-to-Woman Honoree for Outstanding Community Leadership and
Service, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., Nu Zeta Alumnae Chapter July 2015 Author of the Month, The National Black Catholic Congress
May 2013 Professor of the Year, Award given by the Black Affairs Council and the Black
Graduate Student Association at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
2011 Huggins-Quarles Award, Organization of American Historians
2010 John Tracy Ellis Dissertation Award, American Catholic Historical Association
2008 Drusilla Dunjee Houston Memorial Award for Best Graduate Essay in History,
Association of Black Women Historians
2007 “Memphis State Eight” Best (First Place) Paper Prize, 9th Annual Graduate
Conference in African-American History, University of Memphis
2005 Tom W Shick Award for Excellence in the Study of African-American History,
UW-Madison, Dept of Afro-American Studies
2004 Michael J Brown History Prize, Awarded to Outstanding Senior Student in History,
Agnes Scott College
2004 Phi Beta Kappa, Elected to Beta Chapter of Georgia, Agnes Scott College
2003 Mortar Board National Collegiate Honor Society, Agnes Scott College
2002 Phi Alpha Theta, National History Honor Society, Agnes Scott College
2001-4 Charles A Dana Scholar, Agnes Scott College
2000-4 National Merit-Achievement Scholarship, NMSC Foundation, Inc
FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS
2017-19 Henry Luce Research Fellow, Catholicism and the Common Good Colloquium at
Duquesne University 2017-18 Haines-Morris Grant, UTK College Arts & Sciences, to Fund 3rd Annual
Fleming-Morrow Distinguished Lecture in African-American History in Spring 2018 2016-17 Scholar-in-Residence Fellowship, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture,
New York Public Library
2015 SARIF Foreign Travel Grant, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
2013-14 Postdoctoral Fellowship in African-American Studies, Department of History, Case
Western Reserve University 2012-13 Consortium for Faculty Diversity Pre-/Postdoctoral Fellowship in History and
Africana Studies, Luther College (Declined) 2011-12 Visiting Scholar, The Benjamin L Hooks Institute for Social Change, University of
Memphis
Trang 62011-12 Charlotte W Newcombe Doctoral Fellowship for Religion and Ethics, Woodrow
Wilson National Foundation
2011 Erskine A Peters Dissertation Fellowship, University of Notre Dame (Declined)
2011 Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship (Declined)
2010-11 Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis Graduate Research Fellowship, Rutgers
University
2010 Albert J Beveridge Research Grant, American Historical Association
2010 Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism Research Travel Grant,
University of Notre Dame
2010 Lord Baltimore Research Fellowship, Maryland Historical Society
2010 Dorothy Mohler Research Grant, Catholic University of America
2009 Andrew W Mellon Foundation Research Grant, Rutgers Graduate School of Arts and
Sciences
2008 Pre-Dissertation Research Travel Award, Rutgers History Department
2009-10 Ralph J Bunch Fellowship, Rutgers University
2006-7 Ralph J Bunche Fellowship, Rutgers University
UNIVERSITY SERVICE
Spring 2016 Faculty Reviewer of 2016-17 Yates Dissertation Completion Fellowship Applications
for UTK Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Spring 2016 Submitted Successful Proposal for the UTK Humanities Center’s Distinguished
Visiting Scholars Project, Which Brought Dr Barbara D Savage of the University of Pennsylvania to Campus to Deliver a Public Lecture on April 18, 2016
Fall 2015 UTK Commission for Black People
Spring 2015- Faculty Advisor for UTK Black Student Union
Spring 2015- Faculty Advisor for UTK Women of Promise, Student Affiliate of the National
Association for Colored Women Clubs, Inc
DEPARTMENTAL SERVICE
Fall 2017- Speaker’s Committee, Lead Organizer and Coordinator of the 3rd Annual
Fleming-Morrow Distinguished Lecture in African-American History to be delivered by Dr Thavolia Glymph of Duke University on March 1, 2018
Fall 2017- Undergraduate Committee
Spring 2017 Selection Committee, Inaugural John H Morrow, Jr Award for Excellence in Military
History Spring 2017 Co-Organizer of the 2nd Annual Fleming-Morrow Distinguished Lecture in
African-American History Delivered by Dr Chad L Williams of Brandeis University
on February 23, 2017 Spring 2016 Selection Committee, Inaugural Cynthia Griggs Fleming Award for Excellence in
African-American History Fall 2015- Co-founder and administrator of the UTK #BlackHistoryMatters Film and Discussion
Series (Partnered with UTK Chancellor’s Honors Program)
Trang 7F 2015- S.16 Speakers’ Committee, Lead Organizer and Coordinator of the Inaugural
Fleming-Morrow Distinguished Lecture in African-American History Delivered by
Dr Tomiko Brown-Nagin of Harvard University on March 10, 2016
F 2015-S.16 Head’s Advisory Committee, Elected Position
Spring 2015- Co-Founder and administrator of the Fleming-Morrow Endowment in African-
American History through the UT Foundation, which will provide annual funding for
a distinguished lecture series in African-American history and two student awards in African-American and military history Raised $23,073 for endowment to date Fall 2014 Gave brief presentation to UTK History Department Graduate Committee on
recruiting students from underrepresented groups on October 29, 2014
Sum 2014 Submitted successful proposals for five new courses (four undergraduate and one
graduate) in African-American History prior to my official appointment The courses are HIST 376: African-American Women’s History (cross-listed with AFST and WOST), HIST 346: African-American Religious History (cross-listed with AFST), HIST 374: The History of the Civil Rights Movement (cross-listed with AFST and AMST), HIST 300: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the United States (cross-listed with AFST), and HIST 517: Classic and Contemporary Graduate Readings in African-American History
SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION
Spring 2017 Manuscript Reviewer for The Black Scholar
Spring 2016 Manuscript Reviewer for American Catholic Studies
CAMPUS TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS
Panelist
“Excellence Is Your Greatest Weapon: Rules and Tips for Surviving and Thriving in College,” Presentation at the UTK Black Student Union’s Welcome Back Celebration on September 11, 2017 Panelist, #SayHerName forum sponsored by Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Pi Epsilon Chapter,
(September 16, 2015)
“Excellence Is Your Greatest Weapon: Rules and Tips for Surviving and Thriving in College,” Presentation at the UTK Black Student Union’s Welcome Back Ice Cream Social on August 20,
2015
“The Real Sister Act: Black Nuns, Contested Memories, and the Limitations of the American Racial
Imagination” talk at the UTK Africana Studies Spring Symposium on April 6, 2015
Panelist, Black Politics and State Violence forum sponsored by the UTK Platypus Society, (March
27, 2015)
Panelist, Ferguson Verdict: The Misconceptions of Social Media Worldwide at the Annual Black
Issues Conference, University of Tennessee, (February 7, 2015)
Trang 8Panelist, UTK NAACP Chapter Forum, “‘What's Happenin:’’ A Currents Events Forum for the Minority College Student,” (October 30, 2014)
“Excellence Is Your Greatest Weapon: Rules and Tips for Surviving and Thriving in College,” Presentation for Who’s Who Wednesday in the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH on March 19, 2014
Provided introduction to “Living the Dream: 10 Black Women Activists You Need to Meet” program
at Case Western Reserve University for MLK Week Celebration in Cleveland, OH on January 22,
2014
COMMUNITY SERVICE AND OUTREACH
Delivered a black history month lecture entitled, “‘You Could Do the Irish Jig, But Anything African Was Taboo:’ Black Nuns, Contested Memories, and the Long Struggle to Desegregate U.S Catholic Female Religious Life,” at Tabernacle Baptist Church, Knoxville, TN on February 24, 2016
Delivered a black history month lecture entitled, “Subversive Habits: The Untold History of Black Catholic Sisters in the United States,” at Speights AME Zion Church in Rockwood, TN on February
21, 2016
Served on the planning committee for the Eighth of August community celebration at Beck Cultural Exchange Center in Knoxville, TN from June to July 2015
Delivered lecture on the civil rights movement for the A.P U.S history class at Austin East High School on April 28, 2015 as a part of the UTK history department’s outreach to Knoxville public high schools
Delivered a black history month lecture on the desegregation of the UTK faculty at New Vision Church in West Knoxville on March 7, 2015
Delivered a lecture entitled “Decentering MLK in the History of the Civil Rights Movement” for the
34th Annual UT History Workshop at the East Tennessee Historical Society on March 7, 2015
Served as a judge for the 2014-15 Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizens Essay Scholarship Contest, East Tennessee Regional Competition from December 2014 to January 2015 Delivered a talk entitled, “Harriet Tubman: An American Hero,” at Norwood Elementary School in Knoxville, TN on December 14, 2014
Delivered the introduction to “Living the Dream: 10 Black Women Activists You Need to Meet” program at Memorial Nottingham Branch of the Cleveland Public Library for Women’s History Month, Cleveland, OH, on March 8, 2014
Trang 9CONFERENCES
Papers Presented
“The Real Sister Act: The Untold Story of Black Catholic Sisters in the United States,” Annual Meeting of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium, New Orleans, LA, (October 14, 2016)
“On Discovering Barkley Hendricks’s My Black Nun (1964)” and “‘The Future of the Black Nun is
Dubious:’ Race, Religion, and the Changing Face of the Catholic Sister in the Twenty-First Century World,” 10th Triennial Conference on the History of Women Religious, Santa Clara University, CA, (June 26-29, 2016)
“‘Liberation Is Our First Priority:’ Black Nuns, Soul Politics, and the Formation of the National Black Sisters’ Conference,” at the “Nun in the World” Conference at University of Notre Dame, London Centre, (May 8, 2015)
“‘You Could Do the Irish Jig, But Anything African Was Taboo’: Catholic Sisters and the Forgotten History of Racial Segregation and Exclusion in Female Religious Life,” Organization of American
Historians Annual Meeting, Saint Louis, MO, (April 16, 2015)
“Troubling the Waters and Shifting Paradigms: Making the Case for Centering Black Nuns in the Fight for Racial and Educational Justice in Twentieth-Century (Catholic) America,” American
Historical Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., (January 3, 2014)
“Desegregating the Habit: Portraits of Five Pioneering Black Sisters in Historically-White
Congregations in the United States,” Ninth Triennial Conference on the History of Women Religious,
St Paul, MN, (June 24, 2013)
“‘Service First! Service Now! Service Always!’: Black Nuns, Civil Rights,
and the Resurrection of Black Catholic Protest after Vatican II,” American Catholic Historical
Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, (January 5, 2013)
“‘You Could Do the Irish Jig, But Anything African Was Taboo’: Black Nuns and the Struggle to Desegregate U.S Catholic Sisterhoods after World War II,” American Catholic Historical
Association Spring Meeting, New Orleans, LA, (March 23, 2012)
“Subversive Habits: Black Nuns and the Struggle to Desegregate Catholic America after World War I,” Heidelberg Center for American Studies Spring Academy 2011, Heidelberg University, Germany,
(March 21-25, 2011)
“‘Nothing Is Too Good for the Youth of Our Race’: Black Nuns and the Struggle for Catholic
Education in the Jim Crow South,”125th Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association,
Boston, MA, (January 6-9, 2011)
“‘Nothing Is Too Good for the Youth of Our Race’: Black Nuns and the Struggle for Catholic
Education in the Jim Crow South,” at Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis as a part of the
2010-2012 “Narratives of Power” Project Seminar, (November 16, 2010)
Trang 10“‘Nothing Is Too Good for the Youth of Our Race’: Black Nuns and the Struggle for Catholic
Education in the Jim Crow South,” Eighth Triennial Meeting of the Conference on the History of Women Religious, University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, (June 27-30, 2010)
“Black Nuns and the Veiled Struggle to Desegregate the American Catholic Church: Preliminary Thoughts on the Politics of Anonymity in the Jim Crow South,” Eighth Southern Conference on Women’s History, sponsored by the Southern Association for Women Historians, University of South Carolina at Columbia, (June 4-6,2009)
“Black Nuns and the Veiled Struggle to Desegregate the American Catholic Church: Preliminary Thoughts on the Politics of Anonymity in the Jim Crow South,” Institute for Research on Women Graduate Student Forum on Feminist Scholarship, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, (April 3, 2009)
“‘To Be Celibate, Black and Committed’: Sister M Martin de Porres Grey, R.S.M and the Formation
of the National Black Sisters’ Conference, 1968-1974,” Black Women and the Radical Tradition: A National Conference, City University of New York Graduate Center and Brooklyn College Graduate Center for Worker Education, New York, NY, (March 28, 2009)
“‘Liberation Is Our First Priority’: Black Nuns, Soul Politics, and the Modern African-American Freedom Struggle,” 101st Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians, New York,
New York, (March 28-31, 2008) *Part of the Gender and Black Power Politics panel
“‘Liberation Is Our First Priority’: Black Nuns, Soul Politics, and the Modern African-American Freedom Struggle,” 10th Annual Women’s History Month Conference at Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, (March 7-8, 2008) Conference Theme: Black Power, Black Feminism: Black
Women’s Activism and Development of Womanist/Feminist Consciousness in the Black Power Era
“‘Liberation Is Our First Priority’: Black Nuns, Soul Politics, and the Modern African-American Freedom Struggle,” 9th Annual Conference of the Graduate Association for African-American
History at the University of Memphis, (September 12-14, 2007) *Awarded first place prize
Roundtable Participant
Panelist on ACHA Presidential Roundtable Discussion entitled, “The Future of Catholic History: What Do Graduate Students Want to Know?” Annual Meeting of the American Catholic Historical Association, Denver, CO, (January 7, 2017)
“The Color of Christ’s Brides” as a part of the “Race and White Supremacy in the Construction of American Catholicism” Roundtable, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, (November 23, 2015)
Panel Chair/Commentator
Chair and Commentator for “Black Women, Religion, and Resistance in the Formation of