Society of Scholars Cohort Archive

The Society of Scholars is an intellectual community of humanists of diverse generations, academic ranks, and departmental affiliations who contribute to and learn from one another’s work. Each year, approximately eight faculty and three dissertation research fellowships support members of the Society of Scholars. Scholars in year-long residence at the University of Washington may be invited to participate as well. The group meets biweekly throughout the year to discuss their research in progress.
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2016 - 2017 Society of Scholars Fellow

LaShawnDa Pittman (she/her/hers)
Coerced Mothering: African American Grandmothers from Slavery to the Present
This project explores the caregiving experiences of African American grandmothers from slavery to the present. Combining archival, qualitative, and census data, this study explores the role black grandmothers played in the changing racial landscape from their and their grandchildren’s perspectives. I explore three themes: the relationship between coercion and African American grandmothers’ caregiving from slavery to the present; the ways in which cultural and coercive forces, parents, and the State have changed over time and in doing so changed the nature and implications of grandparent caregiving; and the differing ways women respond.