This is Part 2 of the interview with Brendesha Tynes, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the USC Rossier School of Education. She will present a lecture at Penn as part of the Visiting Faculty Scholars of Color program on Feb. 5th. Part 1 of the interview is here.
Part 2:
MTW: What experiences have you had or what have you seen that influenced you to take the research path you chose?
BT: I’ve had a number of experiences but I’ll mention the first.
I wanted to be a biomedical engineer when I was a sophomore and junior in high school. The University of Michigan had a program where they brought aspiring engineers to the campus. At some point during the program, I was walking down the street, and a car full of white guys drove by and they said, “Go home ‘N-word’” [They said the actual word]. I lost my desire to go to Michigan and to be an engineer shortly afterwards.
MTW: What experiences have you had or what have you seen that influenced you to take the research path you chose?
BT: I’ve had a number of experiences but I’ll mention the first.
I wanted to be a biomedical engineer when I was a sophomore and junior in high school. The University of Michigan had a program where they brought aspiring engineers to the campus. At some point during the program, I was walking down the street, and a car full of white guys drove by and they said, “Go home ‘N-word’” [They said the actual word]. I lost my desire to go to Michigan and to be an engineer shortly afterwards.
Fast forward to undergrad and graduate school and many of
my research questions have centered around African American self-perceptions,
dealing with discrimination and how it affects their development. My life could have been very different. I
could be creating prosthetic devices, but my experience at Michigan changed
that. I want to do my part to figure out
the impact these experiences have on others.
MTW: Where do you see your research, and the field, in 10-15 years?
BT: This is the absolute best time to study race online. This historical moment is the absolute best time to do this research. You have people thinking about race in really sophisticated ways. At the same time you have a retreat to pre-Civil Rights era race relations.
MTW: Where do you see your research, and the field, in 10-15 years?
BT: This is the absolute best time to study race online. This historical moment is the absolute best time to do this research. You have people thinking about race in really sophisticated ways. At the same time you have a retreat to pre-Civil Rights era race relations.
In the future you’re going to see more research on
intergroup relations and intergroup learning online.
Researchers
will also try to better understand how the internet can be used as a tool to
promote more positive race relations.
MTW: What advice do you give to the aspiring scholar who wants to do similar research?
BT: My work covers at least three disciplines: Developmental Psychology, New Media Studies, and Black Studies. When you want to do interdisciplinary work it takes a lot more time. For each discipline, it will take a year and a half of reading and coursework. I would also suggest connecting with faculty who are doing similar work.
MTW: What advice do you give to the aspiring scholar who wants to do similar research?
BT: My work covers at least three disciplines: Developmental Psychology, New Media Studies, and Black Studies. When you want to do interdisciplinary work it takes a lot more time. For each discipline, it will take a year and a half of reading and coursework. I would also suggest connecting with faculty who are doing similar work.
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