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African-American Women in the USA Challenges Students, Ignites Discussions |
| By
Deanna Lytle |
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Nov 12, 2004 |
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| Darla Turner, lecturer in women's and gender studies, talked to students from the African-American Women in the USA class. |
When Darla Turner was working on a master's degree at The University of Toledo, she decided to do research on the connection between marital status of African-American women and their enrollment in post-secondary education programs. What Turner found surprised her. "There was little if any research on the subject," she said.
After teaching a class on African-American history, Turner decided to develop a class that incorporated African-American women. After approval from Dr. Jamie Barlowe, then-chair of the women's and gender studies department, the course African-American Women in the USA was born.
The class was offered for the first time spring 2004, and integrated textbook readings, student discussions and guest speakers. According to Turner, the course is based more on discussions than lectures. "They do much more talking than I do," she said. Topics covered in the course include concepts of beauty, health issues, self-esteem, higher education, domestic violence and HIV/AIDS. "As I understand it, African-American women are now the number one candidates for the disease," Turner said.
Turner was happy with the diverse enrollment in the course. "We had people from different majors and there were people from different ethnicities represented. We had both men and women in the class," she said.
The guest speakers included community members, a woman from a battered women's shelter, and WJUC radio station owner Charles Welch and on-air personality Tommy Kaye. The latter two were brought in for a discussion on romantic relationships between African-American men and women. "That was very interesting," Turner said with a laugh. "My students wanted more speakers, but we just ran out of time."
What touched Turner the most about the class were the student discussions. "The classes were soul-stirring," she said. "Students often came up to me and said they always wanted to talk about these issues, but they were afraid to bring them up or talk about them." And the class provides a safe environment for these discussions to be held. "This is not a male-bashing course. It doesn't downplay the challenges faced by other ethnicities," Turner said. "Respect is demanded for everyone. I want this to be a welcoming environment."
Turner said that she wants students to come away from the class with a better understanding of themselves and others. "For students who are African-American women, I want them to know that they are not alone in their challenges or concerns. For other students, I want to provide insight and help them get through the stereotypes," she explained. "I think this class shows that though we walk around with different exteriors, we are all the same inside."
Turner, who also tutors women to get their GED through Women Blessing Women, said she would like to teach more classes. "I've been in talks with Bowling Green State University and Owens Community College" about teaching a course similar to African-American Women in the USA, she said.
Turner will teach the course, WGST 3980 section 1, spring semester.
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