Edward A. Bouchet: A Model for Understanding African Americans and Their Doctoral Experience

Becoming an Africana Activist Scholar: David C. Turner, III and Black Graduate Student Activism as Professional Development, A Case Study

“…Felder (2015) examines the life of Edward A. Bouchet, the first Black person to receive a doctorate from Yale in 1876, positing that his life can be used as a model to understand the experiences of Black graduate students. Felder (2015) states, “Bouchet’s success represents a culmination of supportive efforts including his prior academic socialization experiences, involving a vibrant activist community that demanded education as a means of justice” (p. 6). Claybrook (2021) reveals Turner’s intellectual and academic foundations beginning with his parents and motivated by socio-political and economic racialized experiences in his youth.…”

“…Claybrook (2021) reveals Turner’s intellectual and academic foundations beginning with his parents and motivated by socio-political and economic racialized experiences in his youth. For Felder (2015), knowing accounts of one’s like Bouchet, and Turner, “would be a helpful approach in identifying what these practical rewards might be and how they serve to motivate and support African-American doctoral students” (p. 6). In addition, Felder and Barker (2013) extend Derrick Bell’s concept of interest convergence identifying where students personal interest or perspectives on the manifestation of race in doctoral education may or may not be congruent with their faculty members, advisors, or institutional environment.…”

“…Race has played an important role in the experience of Black graduate students. Felder (2015) examines the life of Edward A. Bouchet, the first Black person to receive a doctorate from Yale in 1876, positing that his life can be used as a model to understand the experiences of Black graduate students. Felder (2015) states, "Bouchet's success represents a culmination of supportive efforts including his prior academic socialization experiences, involving a vibrant activist community that demanded education as a means of justice" (p. 6).…”

“…In addition, there is no shortage of literature guiding doctoral students and candidates into the professoriate (Cahn, 2008; Gardner et al, 2010; Iding & Thomas, 2015). Furthermore, literature on the role of race in the success, or lack thereof, of Black doctoral students is also present in the literature (Blockett et al, 2016; Felder et al, 2014; Felder, 2015; Green & Scott, 2003; Scott, 2017). Of interest here, though, is how student activism prepares Black graduate student activists for a life in academia.…”