Marcia Chatelain
Author and Professor of History and African American Studies at Georgetown University
SPEAKER FEE RANGE: $22,000–$50,000 [FEE NOTE]
TRAVELS FROM: District of Columbia
RELATED TOPICS: Black Speakers, Civil Rights & Social Justice
• Professor of History and African American Studies, Georgetown University
• Pulitzer Prize Winning Author
• Author of Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America
• Creator, #FergusonSyllabus
• Pulitzer Prize Winning Author
• Author of Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America
• Creator, #FergusonSyllabus
Marcia Chatelain is currently a Professor of History and African American Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Previously, she was a Reach for Excellence Assistant Professor of Honors and African American Studies at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. She is a scholar of African-American life and culture, and her first book South Side Girls: Growing up in the Great Migration (Duke University Press, 2015) reimagined the mass exodus of black Southerners to the urban North from the perspective of girls and teenage women. She won a 2021 Pulitzer Prize for her latest book, Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America (Liveright/W.W. Norton, 2020) which examines the intersection of the post-1968 civil rights struggle and the rise of fast-food industry. Franchise was chosen as a New York Times Critics’ Top 10 Book and the Hagley Prize for Best Book in Business History. In 2016, the Chronicle of Higher Education named Marcia a Top Influencer in Higher Education in recognition of her curation of #FergusonSyllabus, a response to the crisis in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. She is a 2019 Andrew Carnegie Fellow. Chatelain also served on the Georgetown University Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation, and is a renowned voice on universities, slavery, and reparations.
Dr. Chatelain helps organizations respond to and solve the challenges that confront them. Problems can emerge when communication is impaired or unfinished business impedes progress. Dr. Chatelain is an experienced facilitator and strategist. She has provided support to schools grappling with negative incidents surrounding racism, assisted university departments in identifying new priorities after campus-wide protests, and led workshops on inclusive pedagogy for multiple high school faculties. From developing parent engagement programs to assessing diversity programs or thinking about the needs of first-generation college students, Dr. Chatelain uses her scholarly and practical experience to help organizations plan for the future.
Dr. Chatelain helps organizations respond to and solve the challenges that confront them. Problems can emerge when communication is impaired or unfinished business impedes progress. Dr. Chatelain is an experienced facilitator and strategist. She has provided support to schools grappling with negative incidents surrounding racism, assisted university departments in identifying new priorities after campus-wide protests, and led workshops on inclusive pedagogy for multiple high school faculties. From developing parent engagement programs to assessing diversity programs or thinking about the needs of first-generation college students, Dr. Chatelain uses her scholarly and practical experience to help organizations plan for the future.
- FRANCHISE: THE GOLDEN ARCHES IN BLACK AMERICA
Dr. Chatelain’s 2020 book Franchise was a highly regarded examination of the roots of today’s obesity crisis, food deserts, and struggle for food justice. By examining the history of McDonald’s in America, Dr. Chatelain tells the story of race, civil rights, and the question about how to best deliver equal opportunity. - RACISM IN OUR STREETS AND STRUCTURES
Dr. Chatelain is a leading voice on the intersection of race and faith. In this conversation, Dr. Chatelain speaks to the conflicted history of American slaveholding, religion, and social justice. - CAPITALISM, RACE AND CLASS: THE CASE OF MCDONALDS
A conversation about how everything you need to know about race and inequality can be learned by examining the history of McDonald’s. Dr. Chatelain explores how fast food uncovers American’s hidden histories of identity, economic opportunity, and hunger for justice. - AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY
Dr. Chatelain is a trained historian of 20th century African American history. Her college-level courses focus on the African-American Great Migration, mid-century Civil Rights Movement, the history of African-American women. Dr. Chatelain has also created interactive Black History Month presentations for high school students in order to help them better understand the past. - HISTORY OF GIRLHOOD
Dr. Chatelain's book South Side Girls is among a body of scholarship that takes the historical contributions of girls seriously. In her book, Dr. Chatelain used an array of archives to bring the Great Migration alive by exploring how girls understood the world around them. Dr. Chatelain previously served on the Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma and has been a supporter of a number of girls' leadership initiatives. - SLAVERY AND THE UNIVERSITY
Dr. Chatelain has been a resource to museums and historical societies as a guest educator and a content expert on exhibitions and programs. As a member of the Georgetown Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation, she has helped bring the history of slavery and universities to communities across the country. - INCLUSIVE TEACHING AND PEDAGOGY
Dr. Chatelain believes that our classrooms are the place where social change is ignited. In her experiences of teaching about race and social justice, she has developed practices that encourage honest, clear, and often transformative dialogue. Dr. Chatelain enjoys sharing her teaching strategies with educators from K-16 about cultivating inclusive pedagogies. Dr. Chatelain has a particular interest in assisting Catholic schools in this work. - STUDENT LEADERSHIP
Since her days as a student activist, Dr. Chatelain has been a keen observer about how students have worked to transform their campuses and the world. Now, as a college professor, she works with student leaders and activists on understanding their important role in realizing social change.
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