A Cauldron Spotlight: Associate Professor Adrienne Gosselin and the story of how Black feminist coursework came to CSU – The Cauldron
In 1996, Associate Professor of English and Africana Studies, Adrienne Gosselin, Ph.D., created English/Africana Studies 208, the first course on womanism and Black feminism at Cleveland State University.
Nearly 30 years later and the course has been taught every academic year, with each semester welcoming a full house of students, some of whom take it to fulfill a requirement, most of whom are simply fascinated by the course description on CampusNet:
“Literature reflecting women’s movement in America. Initial focus examines 19th-century bi-racial origins and ideologies to establish definitions of womanism as distinct from feminism and to frame readings of women’s movements across ethnic and cultural communities in America over the 20th-century.”
As the womanist movement continues to gain momentum among this young, impassioned generation, the story of how English 208 joined the University’s curriculum reflects an extensive history of how the respective theories found their place in academia, as well as an understanding of feminism’s exclusively white origins. Indeed, the coursework calls on all students to learn and unlearn in order to take the dialogue outside the classroom.
Adrienne Gosselin, Ph.D.: The Creator of English 208
Meet Adrienne Gosselin, professor of English and Africana studies at CSU, and designer of English/Africana 208: Womanism and Black Feminism. Photo Credit: Adrienne Gosselin
Prior to the esteemed life she created in academia, Gosselin embarked on a long journey to find her place in the world.
“I think my scholarship is kind of all over the place, because I [didn’t] come into academia through the regular route,” Gosselin shared in an interview with The Cauldron.
Having worked several jobs in a number of industries, from public relations to advertising to entertainment, Gosselin always felt that college was the “missing component.” Eventually, she returned to college to obtain a bachelor’s in fine arts at California State University, Los Angeles, and, later, her first master’s in communications. Gosselin’s academic range left her with a variety of experience and knowledge, all of which formed the foundation for her second master’s in English literature and exposure to feminist studies.
“It was the road less traveled if you will. And it was enlightening and kind of empowering in a sense of the range of people that I had a chance to meet, be acquainted with.”
As a graduate student, feminist anthologies were beginning to emerge and shape her coursework, though they featured few works of Black women. It wasn’t until she attended a conference on feminism in Iowa that Gosselin would fully realize what she felt was missing in feminist studies—and, even more, how difficult those missing pieces were to articulate.
“I thought, wow, this is really bizarre,” began Gosselin. “I went to a session, and these two white women were laying down all of the things that feminists are, what feminism was and what feminists should be,. And the Black women were just as determined in their response. I mean, I don’t think the planners got even a quarter of their agenda accomplished, because all of their assumptions about the female experience were challenged. It was just really amazing to me that these women were so clueless. And adamant about what they did not know, how much they did not know. It was very adversarial…I think at that point, I saw battle lines that I’d never really noticed so much in academia.”
The Beginnings of English 208
Gosselin joined the CSU faculty in 1993, the year that Black lesbian feminist Audre Lorde passed away. It was also around this time that womanism and Black feminism as academic theories began to take shape.
“What really brought Black feminism into the academy were the Black academics who were also gay. So, the original Black feminism brought this additional component of sexuality and homophobia, as well as the racial and gender component, right?”
What was also emerging in the academic sphere at this time was the idea of “space,” that Black feminism wasn’t “one size fits all,” but rather, an all-encompassing “both/and” mindset—not just race, not just gender. Gosselin highlighted the impact of reading “Some Implications of Womanist Theory,” a journal article written by Shirley Ann Wiliams that discusses womanism as a grassroots theory and practice, transcending race, gender and class.
After being a reader on a graduate committee in the English department for a student who wrote her thesis on the concept of womanism in relation to her own family experience, Gosselin informed her colleagues on the committee that womanism was more than personal experience, that it was, in fact, a formal area of study. The experience compelled Earl Anderson, then-chair of the English department, to pitch the possibility of Gosselin formally teaching womanism as a theory in the University.
From there, the course was born and taught for the first time in 1996.
As exciting as it was, wow was it frustrating to teach for the first few years, Gosselin confessed.
She attributed the difficulty students faced with the content, the idea that feminism had this unacknowledged racial component, to the original name of the course.
“Students were not understanding that this wasn’t something that I made up; that feminism isn’t a sit-around-the-campfire where we can all get along. Racism is an issue that feminism still needs to deal with. I think Roxane Gay’s “Bad Feminist” was maybe the first recognized text to kind of discuss this racial difference. This idea of womanism as gender equality is, really, indigenous to African American culture. It’s simply a result of slavery. Slavery had no gender preferences. The necessary dehumanization of Africans required getting rid of any sense of patriarchy, any sense of matriarchy. You were a slave, period. Helping each other, regardless of gender, was survival.”
To navigate this disconnect, Gosselin recently changed the name of the course. As of this spring, English 208 is no longer Womanism/Feminism, but Womanism/Black Feminism. The difference may seem subtle, but Gosselin believes this change in language transforms the meaning of the entire course, including what students ultimately take from its content.
Since the name change, Gosselin has observed a stronger overall comprehension from the start, as well as an increase in Black female student enrollment.
The Future of Womanist and Black Feminist Coursework
Gosselin shared that, even after nearly thirty years, this coursework has a long way to go. And, indeed, its theories require significant unlearning, on top of more learning.
“It’s hard to explain that, while all women can be womanists, you really do have to understand that the ideology comes through the everyday experiences of Black women and other women of color,” she said. “The power, the organization, the movement comes through women of color.”
However, her faith in its future lies in the young generation, who she sees as “agents of social change,” taking on the coursework with open arms and open minds. While classes such as English 208 are where the dialogue begins, it should not be where it ends. Gosselin emphasized the need to bring new information out into the world.
Gosselin plans to apply for a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant for English 208 as an avenue to explore the “initial steps” of engaging the dialogue that the course compels.
“Because I think people want this,” began Gosselin, “but they don’t know how to get past the emotional part. How do we get started? You know, how do I respect what you don’t know? How do I respect your anger? How do you respect mine? We need to do that. We need that dialogue to move forward.”
English 208 is usually offered in the spring. To learn more about the departments of English and Africana studies, as well as Black feminism studies at CSU, reach out to Gosselin at [email protected].
Black History Month is February.