Smith, Debra C.

Education

• B.A., University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, 1995
• M.A., University of North Carolina – Charlotte, 1997
• Ph.D., University of North Carolina Greensboro, 2004

Bio

Dr. 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.

Areas of Interest:

• Black Images in the Media

• 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