| Title: | Associate Professor |
| Dept: | History |
| Office: | RT 1907 |
| Phone: | 216-523-7182, 216-687-3920 |
| Fax: | 216-687-5592 |
| Email: | R.WILLIAMS@csuohio.edu |
| Web: | http://www.ClevelandMemory.org/pray |
| Address: | 2121 Euclid Ave. RT 1907, Cleveland, OH 44115 |
Education: | ||
|
Ph.D., History, Case Western Reserve University, 2001
M.P.A., Public Administration, Cleveland State University, 1990 B.A., Urban Studies, Cleveland State University, 1986 | ||
| Brief Bio: | ||
| Dr. Regennia N. Williams holds a Ph.D. in History from Case Western Reserve University. In April 2009, she received notification of her selection as a Fulbright scholar grantee to Nigeria for the spring semester of 2010. While in Nigeria, she plans to study the recent social history of religion and spirituality among Christian, Muslim, and Yoruba women.
Williams designed courses for Cleveland State University on "The History of African Americans Through Sacred Music" and "Collective Survival in the African Diaspora," and she has lectured and presented papers at local, regional, national, and international gatherings. Recent presentations include: "Praying Grounds and Sanctuaries: African American Religious Institutions and the Work of Historians and Social Scientists," and "African American Freedom and the Chinese Connection, 1949-1974." In 2004 and 2005, Dr. Williams participated in the International Academic Scholar's program of the National Association of African American Studies, lecturing at China's Beijing Union University and the Central University of Nationalities. Her published works include Cleveland, Ohio (Black America), "Race Women and Reform" in the Proceedings of the 2002 Meeting of the Ohio Academy of History, "Reading, Writing, and Racial Uplift: Education and Reform in Cleveland, Ohio" in Education and the Great Depression, "Griots and Grace: The Art of Oral History and the History of African American Religion" in The Black History Bulletin, "Mother to Son: Letters from Carrie Hughes Clark to Langston Hughes, 1928-1938" (co-authored with Carmaletta Williams) in Montage: Essays on the Art and Life of Langston Hughes, "R. Nathaniel Dett and African America's Christian Kingdom of Culture," 1926-1932" in The African Diaspora and the Study of Religion, and entries in African American Women: A Biographical Dictionary, The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, The Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance, The Encyclopedia of American Race Riots, The Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora, and The Encyclopedia of African American History. She also served as the Executive/Managing editor for Homegoings, Crossings, and Passings: Life and Death in the African Diaspora, a forthcoming anthology for New World African Press. Dr. Williams is the founder and director of "Praying Grounds: African American Faith Communities, A Documentary and Oral History Project." Williams is co-founder of the Langston Hughes Literary Society, and she served as Advisory Committee Chair and Project Director for the award-winning 2002 Greater Cleveland Langston Hughes Centennial Celebration. She also coordinated program activities for "The Soul of W.E.B. Du Bois: Celebrating the Genius of an American Scholar" in 2003. In the 2004 - 2005 academic year, she facilitated the planning for and implementation of "Life and Death in the African Diaspora," a series of programs culminating with an academic conference. In 2006, she planned and directed "Fifty Years Beyond Bandung: The Linkages Between Asia, Africa, and the Diaspora," an international academic conference. In 2007, Dr. Williams founded the Initiative for the Study of Religion and Spirituality in the History of Africa and the Diaspora (RASHAD), and she is the founder and editor of RASHAD's quarterly newsletter, Traditions and Beliefs. In 2008 she co-founded Spiritual Gifts: A Professional Black Sacred Music Repertory Ensemble, The Journal of Traditions and Beliefs, and The First Mondays Group: A Sanctuary for Writers and Readers. She was also the co-convener (with Patricia O'Luanaigh) of Cleveland State University's 2009 "Women and Spirituality Symposium." Dr. Williams is a member of the Organization of American Historians. She serves on the governing board of Town Hall of Cleveland, and she is the Acting President for the African American Archives Auxiliary of the Western Reserve Historical Society. | ||
| Honors and Awards: | ||
| Fulbright Fellowship for Research and Teaching in Nigeria, Spring 2010
Faculty Merit Award, 2009 Awarded Visiting Scholar Privileges, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2008 Outstanding Faculty Member, Black Faculty and Staff Organization, 2007 2007 Mentor of the Year, State of Ohio, STARS (Student Achievement in Research and Scholarship) Program, Ohio Board of Regents Nominated to the Board of Trustees for Town Hall of Cleveland by President Michael Schwartz, 2006 Faculty Merit Award, 2005 Outstanding Faculty Award, Office of Minority Affairs and Community Relations, 2005 Selected to participate in the International Academic Scholars Program of the National Association of African American Studies. Lectured at Beijing Union University, College of Arts and Sciences (2004) and The Central University for Nationalities, Department of History (2005) Beijing, China Co-Recipient of the 2004 Public Education and Awareness Award from the Ohio Historic Preservation Office of the Ohio Historical Society for my work on the February 29, 2004 Celebration of Shiloh Baptist Church Northern Ohio Live Award of Achievement for the Langston Hughes Centennial Celebration, 2002 Women Who Make A Difference Award, 2002 Distinguished Faculty Award, Black Faculty and Staff Organization, 2002 Outstanding Student Leader, 1987 | ||
| Creative and Activities: | ||
| Co-Founder, Administrative Coordinator, and Alto Vocalist, Spiritual Gifts: A Black Sacred Music Repertory Ensemble, 2008-2009
Executive Producer, "Harvest Time: A Seasonal Celebration of African American Sacred Music," Fall 2009 | ||
| Research Interests: | ||
| African American History and Culture
History of the African American Church Oral History Social History and Policy | ||
| Teaching Areas: | ||
| Social History
African American History African American Sacred Music Ohio History | ||
| Professional Affiliations: | ||
| Organization of American Historians | ||
| University Service: | ||
| SERVICE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
Colloquia Committee, Fall 2007, 2008-2009 Library Committee, Fall 2007 Advisory Committee, 2006-2007 Annual Dinner, Planning Committee Member, 2006, 2007 Secretary (Department Meetings), 2004-2005 Curriculum Committee, 2002, 2004, 2008-2009 Social History and the City Committee; Chair, 2002-2007 Library Committee (U.S.) 2002 - 2004 Social Studies Committee, 2002-2007 African Diaspora Committee, 2002-Present; Chair 2005-2007 20th-Century Search Committee, 2002-2003 SERVICE TO THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY Library Review Committee, 2009 Planning Committee Member for Annual Retreat, Women's Comprehensive Program, 2007 Search Committee Member, Coordinator, Women's Comprehensive Program, 2007 Planning Committee Member, OMACR, Hispanic Awareness Week, 2006 STARS Faculty Mentor, AHANA (African American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American) Program Office, 2005-2006, 2006-2007 Planning Committee Member, OMACR, 2006 Martin Luther King, Jr. Brunch Planning Committee Member, OMACR, 2006 Urban Community Forum Planning Committee Member, Office of Minority Affairs and Community Relations 10th Annual Diversity Conference, 2004 Search Committee Member, Women's Study Program Assistant, 2005 Faculty Representative, University Commencement, May 15, 2004 Women's Studies Program Council, 2004 - Present Honors Council, 2004 - 2007 Planning Committee Member, The Urban Community Forum, 2004. Planning Committee Member, 2004 Brown v. Board of Education Conference Discussion Leader, The Black Studies Tombouctou Book Club, 2003 - 2004 Black Aspirations Week Planning Committee, 2004 Black Studies Curriculum Committee, 2001 - 2006 The Cooperative Education Committee, 2002 - 2004 The Butler A. Jones Endowed Scholarship and Lecture Committee, 2002 - 2004 The Black Faculty and Staff Organization, Vice President, 2003 - 2005 | ||
| Professional Service: | ||
| Interviewer and Committee Member, Cleveland State University, Fulbright Student Exchange Program, 2007
Interviewer and Committee Member (Cleveland, Ohio), Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program, 2006 Reviewed African American Lives: The Struggle for Freedom (Brief Edition) by Carson, Lapansky-Werner, and Nash for Pearson Longman, September 2005 Textbook Reviewer (Elementary History and Social Studies Units). Harcourt School Publishers, 2005 Board Member. National Association of African American Studies, 2005 - Present Interviewer for The HistoryMakers©, National African American Video Oral History Archives, 2004 -2005. For more information, visit www.thehistorymakers.com Speakers Bureau Member, 50th Anniversary Commemoration of Brown v. Board of Education, Ohio Humanities Council, 2004 Scholar of Record for the Cleveland Teachers Academy / Ohio Humanities Council, Brown v. Board of Education 50th Anniversary Commemoration, Spring Semester 2004. Reviewed chapter on "African American Traditions" for America's Religious Tapestry, McGraw-Hill Publishers (Arts and Humanities), 2003. | ||
| Community Service: | ||
| Town Hall of Cleveland, 2006 - Present
African American Archives Auxiliary, The Western Reserve Historical Society, Trustee 2002-Present, Acting President 2008 Neighborhood Centers Association, 2002 - 2004 League Park Center, 2002 - 2005 | ||
| Research Grants: | ||
| Notification of selection (April 2009) as a Fulbright scholar grantee to Nigeria for the spring semester of 2010
Faculty Incentive Grant, Cleveland State University, Center for e-Learning, Summer 2009 Ohio Humanities Council Grant for "Religion, Race, and Rights in America: The View from Cleveland, Ohio in 1964," for an April 22, 2007 panel discussion presented by the Initiative for the Study of Religion and Spirituality in the History of Africa and the Diaspora(RASHAD) Ohio Humanities Council Grant for "Fifty Years Beyond Bandung: The Linkages Between Asia, Africa and the Diaspora," an international academic conference scheduled for April 21-22, 2006, Cleveland State University Ohio Humanities Council Grant for "African Ethnicities in the Americas," a lecture in the 2004 - 2005 series "Life and Death in the African Diaspora" Bank One Corporate Foundation Grant for "The Soul of W.E.B. Du Bois," 2003 Ohio Humanities Council Grant (With Dr. Michael Williams) for The Langston Hughes Centennial Celebration, 2002 Turner Construction, Program Support for the Langston Hughes Centennial Celebration, 2002 Cleveland Foundation Grant, The Langston Hughes Centennial Celebration, 2001-2002 Ohio Arts Council, Special Opportunity Grant for the Langston Hughes Centennial Celebration, 2001. New Faculty Research Development Grant, College of Arts and Sciences, 2003 Teaching Enhancement Grant, University Center for Teaching and Learning, 2002 | ||