DEPARTMENT OF BLACK STUDIES

• shannon.clark@northwestern.edu
• 1860 Campus Drive, Crowe Hall, 5th Floor

Shannon Paige Clark conducts research at the intersection of educational policy, Black studies, and leadership. As a postdoctoral fellow, Shannon is working alongside kihana miraya ross to examine the educational implications of the Evanston reparations initiative. She aims to conduct research that has clear practical implications for people working in and relying on resource deprived public schools that are supposed to serve Black children in the United States. Her ongoing research projects consider how to a) make schools less harmful for Black people in marginalized communities, b) sustain Black teachers in United States schools, and c) acknowledge and honor the goodness of Black families in schooling.

Shannon used portraiture and critical race methodology in her dissertation to craft a rich portrait of one Black school community striving to engage families to solve chronic problems rooted in [educational] racism and anti-blackness. Shannon is also the Primary Investigator of the We Too Project, which she launched in September 2020 with an American Educational Research Association Division K Seed Grant. The We Too Project chronicled the experiences of Black educators and families navigating the unique and complex challenges of the 2020-21 school year. Shannon used narrative inquiry to document how Black folx resisted and refused new anti-Black policies and practices spurred by COVID-19.

Shannon loves to be in schools interacting with students and families. She spent over a decade as an elementary school teacher. She believes research should be humanizing, participatory, and grounded in the premise that lived experiences are invaluable. Shannon was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland.

Selected Publications:

Clark, S.P. (2022). ‘We Are Trying.’ Portraits of Black Goodness in Spite of Anti-Black Schooling. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Illinois at Chicago. https://doi.org/10.25417/uic.20254182.v1

Diem, S., Welton, A. Walters, S., and Clark, S.P (2021). Becoming an Anti-Racist Leader: Understanding the Nexus of Race, Politics, and Neoliberalism in Everyday Leadership. 2nd Handbook on Urban Educational Leadership.

Irby, D., Green, T., Ishimaru, A., Clark, S.P., & Han, A. (2021). K-12 Equity Directors: Configuring the Role for Impact and Change. Center for Urban Education Leadership.

Irby, D. & Clark, S.P. (2018). Talk it (Racism) Out: Race Talk and Organizational Learning. Journal of Educational Administration, 56(5), 504-518.