Finding Etheridge Knight

Abstract

This case study examines outcomes from a university project that emanated from a grant for a public humanities collaboration. It involved undergraduate research as well as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives at a midsize private university in the Midwest. The university worked with the local library system and its Center for Black Literature and Culture (CBLC) and K-12 schools to create community engagement initiatives based on student research done in the universities special collections archives of the poet, Etheridge Knight, Jr. It also included Knight's family, local poets, the university's Center for Citizenship and Community, and university faculty. The findings include that the project provided an explicit connection between Knight and existing university coursework and student learning, facilitated community engagement, and created an appreciation of both local community and personal sense of community.