Faculty Expertise

Get to know what faculty in the department are teaching and researching.

Teaching

  • Introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies 
  • Race and Gender in the U.S.
  • Feminist Leadership and Social Transformation
  • Gender and Popular Culture
  • Feminist Theory
  • Senior Capstone course

Research

Beth Berila is the director of the Gender & Women's Studies Program and Professor in the Ethnic, Gender, and Women's Studies Department at St. Cloud State University.

She is a long-time mindfulness practitioner. Her work examines embodied feminist leadership. She also explores how mindfulness and somatics can help communities heal from the trauma of oppression and more fully embody liberation. For more information, visit Dr. Berila’s website.

Publications

  • "Radiating Feminism: Resilience Practices for our Inner and Outer Lives" (Forthcoming from Routledge, summer 2020).
  • "Integrating Mindfulness into Anti-Oppression Pedagogy: Social Justice in Higher Education" (Routledge 2023)

Teaching

  • Introduction to Ethnic Studies
  • Introduction to Asian American Studies
  • Asian Pacific American Women
  • Asian Pacific Americans in Popular Culture
  • Women of Color in the U.S.
  • Contemporary Asian Pacific American Issues

Research

Kyoko Kishimoto is a professor in the Department of Ethnic, Gender, & Women’s Studies at St. Cloud State University. She also directs the Asian Pacific American Studies Minor.

Her research interests include how to incorporate anti-racist pedagogy within and beyond the classroom, women of color in higher education, and popular cultural representations of race. She is part of a faculty team that organizes the Anti-Racist Pedagogy Across the Curriculum (ARPAC) Institute.

In addition, she is involved with the St. Cloud Chapter of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum to promote social justice for Asian American and Pacific Islander girls and women.

Select Publications

  • Omori, K. & Kishimoto, K. (2019). The impact of language brokering on Hmong college students’ parent-child relationship and academic persistence. Hmong Studies Journal 20, 1-43.
  • Kishimoto, K. & Karasik, R. J. (2018). Applying anti-racist pedagogy to the exploration of senior housing. In H. Baker, T. Kruger, & R. Karasik (Eds.), A hands-on approach to teaching about aging: 32 activities for the classroom & beyond (pp. 178-206). New York: Springer.
  • Karasik, R. J. & Kishimoto, K. (2018). Is gerontology ready for anti-racist pedagogy? A survey of educators’ practices and perspectives. Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 39(1), 3-20. [Published online, August 11, 2016.]
  • Kishimoto, K. (2018). Anti-racist pedagogy: From faculty’s self-reflection to organizing within and beyond the classroom. Race Ethnicity and Education, 21(4), 540-554. [Published online, October 28, 2016.]
  • Mwangi, M. and Kishimoto, K. (2014). From the margins: Narratives of women of color exploring their ‘teaching life’ and ‘practice of teaching’ for social change. Journal of Global Gender Studies, 1(2), 1-35. [Reprinted in: M. Mwangi, ed. (2016). Championing Change: Perspectives from International Women in Higher Education (pp. 1-22). Ngatha Publishing.]
  • St. Clair, D. & Kishimoto, K. (Fall 2010). Decolonizing teaching: A cross-curricular and collaborative model for teaching about race in the university. Multicultural Education, 18(1), 18-24.
  • Kishimoto, K. & Mwangi, M. (2009). Critiquing the rhetoric of ‘safety’ in feminist pedagogy: Women of color offering an account of ourselves. Feminist Teacher, 19(2), 87-102.

Teaching

  • Introduction to Ethnic Studies
  • Introduction to American Indian Studies
  • Special Topics in American Indian Studies
  • American Indians in the Social Science Curriculum
  • American Indian Women’s Lives
  • Contemporary American Indian Issues

Research

Dr. Jeanne Lacourt directs the American Indian Studies program, is the advisor for the American Indian Studies minor, heads the American Indian Studies Online Certificate program, is a Diplomate Jungian Psychoanalyst and a founding board member of Reciprocity Matters, a non-profit organization whose mission is to address political polarization and social injustice as they contribute to Climate Change and Ecocide.

Dr. Lacourt’s work explores the intersections of Indigenous Studies with Jungian Studies. Her current focus is on race, traditional ecological knowledge, and climate change. She offers lectures and workshops nation-wide.

Select Publications

  • Lacourt, J. (2017). Seeing the forest for the trees: Birthing symbolic life. In E. Broderson & M.
    Glock (Eds.), Jungian Perspectives on rebirth and renewal: Phoenix rising. London:
    Routledge.
  • Lacourt, J., Jaede, M., Tripp, L, & Villanueva, M. (2015). Racial Issues: St. Cloud State
    University Racial Issues Colloquium. Dubuque, IA: Kendal Hunt Publishing
  • Lacourt, J. (2012). Coming home: Knowing land knowing self. Spring Journal, 87
  • Lacourt, J. (2010). Oral history and Native youth: Strengthening traditional American Indian
    Education. Koln, Germany: Lap Lambert Academic Publishing.
  • Lacourt, J. (2010). My father was a bear: Human-animal transformation in Native American
    teachings. Spring Journal, 83.

Teaching

  • Introduction to Ethnic Studies
  • Introduction to African American Studies
  • African American Cultural Expressions
  • Major Works in African American Studies

Research

Christopher P. Lehman is the director of the African American Studies Minor at St. Cloud State University. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and he has been a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Hutchins Institute for African and African American Research. His articles have appeared in Minnesota History and The Chronicles of Oklahoma. In January 2020 his book Slavery’s Reach: Southern Slaveholders in the North Star State became a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award in the “Minnesota Nonfiction” category.

Select Publications

  • Lehman, C. P. (2007) The Colored Cartoon: Black Representation in American Animated Short Films, 1907-1954. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
  • Lehman, C. P. (Summer 2019). “Black Cloud: The Struggles of St. Cloud’s African American Community, 1880-1920.” Minnesota History, 234-243.
  • Lehman, C. P. (2019). Slavery’s Reach: Southern Slaveholders in the North Star State. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press.

Teaching: Undergraduate

  • Introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies
  • International Perspectives on Women and Gender/Global Feminisms/Study Abroad in South Africa
  • Feminist Research Methods
  • Women of Color in the U.S.
  • Gender and Development in the Third World/Study Abroad in South Africa
  • Feminist Leadership
  • Independent Study

Teaching: Graduate

  • Women of Color in the U.S.
  • Advance Theory(s) and Issues in Human Relations
  • Research Design & Assessment in Higher Education | Qualitative Research Methods and Methodology
  • Diversity and Social Justice in Higher Education
  • Thesis and Dissertations
  • Advanced Feminist Research Methods and Methodology

Research

Dr. Mwangi is a professor of Gender and Women’s Studies. She is also an Honorary Professor at the Nelson Mandela University in South Africa, a Carnegie African Diaspora Fellow (South Africa), and a Policy Fellow (Humphrey School of Public Affairs (University of Minnesota). She is also a certified Human Rights Consultant.

Dr. Mwangi’s research is characterized by a critical and transnational approach that draws on colonial, post-colonial, and feminist lenses to explore and interrogate the intricate connections between the local and global contexts in Feminist Teaching, Research, and Activism. Scholarly and research interests are wide-ranging and include Curriculum and feminist pedagogy, international education, feminist research methodology, qualitative methodology, women and education, and feminist leadership. Her work has been presented at numerous national and international conferences/forums and is recognized for its contribution to the field of feminist research and education. Dr. Mwangi is the founder and Chief Editor of the Journal of Global Gender Studies.

Publications

  • Mwangi, M. (2016) (Ed). Championing Change: Perspectives from International Women in Higher Education, St. Cloud, NGATHA Publishers.
  • Mwangi, M. and Kishimoto, K. (2014). From the Margins: Narratives of Women of Color Exploring their “Teaching Life” and “Practice of Teaching” for Social Change, Journal of Global Gender Studies, Volume 1 Issue 2.
  • Mwangi, M. (2013) (Ed), Journal of Global Gender Studies, Volume I, Issue One.
  • Mwangi, M. (2009). “We Will Have Gained Ourselves:” Narratives Experiences of African Women Pursuing Higher Education in the United States of America, North Star Press, (2009).
  • Kishimoto, K. and Mwangi, M. (2009). Critiquing the Rhetoric of “Safety” in Feminist Pedagogy: Women of color Offering an account of Ourselves. Feminist Teacher. 19:2 (2009).

Teaching

  • Introduction to Ethnic Studies
  • Introduction to American Indian Studies
  • Native Nations of Minnesota
  • Native Arts and Cultural Expressions
  • Native Studies Workshop for Educators

Research

Iyekiyapiwiƞ Darlene St. Clair is an associate professor at Saint Cloud State University where she teaches American Indian Studies and Ethnic Studies and directs the Multicultural Resource Center.

Her work focuses on several areas: Dakota Studies; Native Nations of Minnesota; the integration of Native cultures, histories and languages into curricula and educational institutions; Dakota sacred sites; and the arts and cultural expressions of Native peoples.

She is an organizer for the Anti-Racist Pedagogy Across the Curriculum Project and serves as the board chair for Dream of Wild Heath, an Indigenous foodways non-profit based in Minnesota.

Selected Publications

Teaching

  • Race in America
  • The Black Community in the United States

Research

Dr. Luke Tripp is Professor in the Department of Ethnic, Gender, & Women’s Studies at St. Cloud State University.

His history of activism for social justice began in 1960. He has served in leadership roles in the Black liberation movement, including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Black Panther Party, the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, and the Anti-Apartheid struggle.

He has also had a long history in the global anti-imperialist movement as well as various other movements for human rights and social justice.

Publications

  • Lacourt, L.A., Mark, J., Tripp, L., & Villanueva, M. (Eds.). (2015). Racial Issues. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.
  • Villanueva, M.A., Calderón-Steck, F., Rodríguez, I. & Tripp, L. (2005). Latina immigrants in Minnesota communities: A comparative survey on demographics, needs, barriers, and assets. JSRI Research Report #64, The Julian Samora Research Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
  • Tripp, L. (1996). Blacks in America: American mythology and miseducation. In J. Andrezjewski (Ed.), Oppression and Social Justice: Critical Frameworks (pp. 316-321). Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schulster.
  • Tripp, L. (Winter 1994). The intellectual roots of the controversy around cultural diversity and political correctness. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 18(4), 227-230.
  • Tripp, L. (Summer 1992). The political views of Black students during the Reagan era. The Black Scholar, 22(3), 45-52.
  • Tripp, L. (Fall 1991). Race consciousness among African-American students, 1980s. Pullman, Washington. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 15(3), 159-168.
  • Tripp, L. (1987). Black student activists: Transition to middle class professionals. Lanham, Maryland, University Press of America.
  • Tripp, L. (Summer 1986). Community leadership and Black former student activists of the 1960s. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 10(2), 86-89.