Springfield College Office of Multicultural Affairs Hosts Award-Winning Author Dr. Manoucheka Celeste

The Springfield College Office of Multicultural Affairs hosted award-winning author, speaker, mentor, and teacher Dr. Manoucheka Celeste as part of the Cultural Connections Speaker Series on Thursday, March 4. Celeste’s virtual presentation was focused on race, gender, and representation.

Celeste is an associate professor in the Center for Gender, Sexualities, and Women’s Studies Research at the University of Florida. She is in the African American Studies Program, and conducts research on media representations of race, gender, class, and sexuality, and on identity formation in the United States and the Caribbean, specifically in Haiti.

Celeste’s most recent work focuses on citizenship narratives surrounding Blackness, Black womanhood, and transnational mobility. Her book Race, Gender, and Citizenship in the African Diaspora: Travelling Blackness received both the National Communication Association Diamond Anniversary Book Award, and its Outstanding Book Award, presented by the African American Communication and Culture Division and Black Caucus.

She is committed to critical scholarship on representations of Blackness, which appear in academic journals as well in public venues, including The Seattle Times, The Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma, and Spark: Elevating Scholarship on Social Issues.

Celeste’s presentation was sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Multicultural Fund. The overarching goal of the Multicultural Fund is to support and encourage campus-based collaborations that promote social justice, antiracism, inclusion, and acceptance within the Springfield College community. Faculty, staff, students, and student clubs and organizations may apply for a grant through the fund in order to support these goals. More information can be found at Springfield.edu/inclusion-and-community-engagement/multicultural-fund.

Springfield College is an independent, nonprofit, coeducational institution founded in 1885. Approximately 4,100 students, including 2,500 full-time undergraduate students, study at its main campus in Springfield, Mass., and at its regional campuses across the country. Springfield College inspires students through the guiding principles of its Humanics philosophy – educating in spirit, mind, and body for leadership in service to others.