This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Brown, R. N. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Persephone's Triumph

Reflections of a Young Black Woman Becoming a Real Political Scientist

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

This article is a poetic retelling of insight gained as a Black woman surviving graduate school. The purpose of this autoethnographic narrative is to document a few pivotal graduate school experiences that illustrate all that it means to become disciplined in and by higher education. Although the violence committed in such a privileged space may seem trivial, the hurt is real and needs to be given voice. Written to warn and to inspire those not yet overcoming, the metaphor of Persephone and Demeter (as adapted by Rita Dove) is invoked in this essay to demonstrate how it is more than possible to reign in the midst of pain.

Key Words: graduate school • Black womanhood • mentoring

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?