Faculty Profiles: Mathis, Rondrea D.

Assistant Professor of English

Office Location: Harrison Rhodes 415

Office Phone: 386-481-2339

Email: mathisr@cookman.edu

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Degrees

B.A. English Literature, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, April 2008

M.Ed. in Secondary Education, English Education, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, April 2010

Doctor of Philosophy English Literature, University of South Florida, August 2015.

Dr. Rondrea Danielle Mathis has a career focused on the intersection of Black women and God. She is an Assistant Professor of English at Bethune-Cookman University where she teaches English Composition, Black Women Writers, and a seminar course on Toni Morrison. Dr. Mathis is a two-time graduate of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in  Tallahassee, Florida where she holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and a Master of Education in Secondary Education/English Education. She also earned her Doctor of Philosophy in English Literature from the University of South Florida and has taken courses in Black Theology, Black Homiletics, and both the Old and New Testaments at Bethune-Cookman University. Her ongoing academic research focuses on how Black Christian women achieve self-definition, and her popular writing addresses Black women who are S.I.N.K.ing (Single Income/No Kids), but not drowning. Dr. Mathis is also a licensed minister in the Baptist church who loves social justice, gender equality, womanist theology, and critical engagement with the word of God.

• Black feminism

• Womanism

• Black women’s theology

• Black girlhood studies

“Black Womanhood and the Black Woman’s Body: Using American Literature to Define Black Women’s Lives.” College Language Association. Atlanta, GA. April 2023.

“I Belong to Myself: A Recognition of Selfhood in Black Women’s Literature.” Zora Neale Hurston Writer’s Conference. Daytona Beach, FL. March 2022.

“Black Girl Magic: An Exploration of Changing Black Womanhood in the 21 st Century.” Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, International Fall Workshop. November 2019.

“Grading Paper Sucks? How to Make Student Assessments Work.” Faculty Development Seminar. Bethune-Cookman University. Daytona Beach, FL. August 2019.

“Supposing a Self: Black Women’s Reclamation of the Body through Genius in Arts and Letters from Shonda Rhimes to LaVerne Cox to Beyoncé Knowles-Carter.” College Language Association. Columbia, MO. April 2017.

“From Hip Hop to the Holy Ghost: Reimaginations of God in Contemporary Rap Music.” College of Liberal Arts Conference. Bethune-Cookman University. Daytona Beach, FL. April 2017.

“From Breeding Love to Briding Well: An Alternative Ending for Pecola Breedlove in Toni Morrison’s God Help the Child.” College Language Association. Texas Southern University, Houston, TX. April 2016.

“There’s Something Sour in the Sugar: Toni Morrison’s ‘Sugar-Brown’ Girls and the Politics of Black Women’s Migration.” College Language Association. Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX. April 2015.

“A Life in the Spirit: A Personal Journey to Wholeness Through bell hooks’ remembered rapture.” College Language Association. Tulane University, New Orleans, LA. March 2014.

“And This is for Colored Girls Who Have Considered Literature: Edwidge Danticat’s Usage of African Diasporic Literary Tradition in Krik Krak.” College Language Association. University of Kentucky-Lexington, Lexington, KY. April 2013.

“Loving on a Midnight Train to Harlem: Toni Morrison’s Love Story in Jazz,” College Language Association. Spelman College, Atlanta, GA. March 2012.

“The Power of Black Women’s Collectives.” SAGE Women’s Conference. Tampa, FL. July 2023.

“Every Body on Purpose.” SAGE Women’s Conference. Tampa, FL. November 2022. FAMUly Talk: Season Two. FAMUly Affair. 12 April 2022.

“I Belong to Myself: A Recognition of Selfhood in Black Women’s Literature.” Zora Neale Hurston Writer’s Conference. Daytona Beach, FL. March 2022.

“On Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Gathering and Gabbing. Zora! Festival of Arts and Culture. Eatonville, FL. November 2019.

“Between Their Eyes Were Watching God and Beloved: Black Women and Independence.” Zora! Festival of Arts and Culture. Eatonville, FL. January 2018. 

“The Connective Fibers Across the African Diaspora.” Famn Kreyol Soirée Elegant. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL. Keynote Address. March 2017.

“From Meek Maids to Leading Ladies: The Evolution of Black Women in Film and Media.” Largo Public Library. Largo, FL. Lecture. February 2017.

“How Race is Portrayed in the Media.” Florida A&M University School of Journalism and Graphic Communication Knight Chair Speaker Series. Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL. Panel. March 2016.

“Cocktails and Conversations.” Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL. Panel. February 2016.

“New Age Activism.” Albany State University Department of History and Political Science, Albany, GA. Panel. February 2016.

“Black Women and the Jim Crow South.” Albany State University Department of History and Political Science, Albany, GA. Lecture. February 2016.

“I Am Not My Hair.” Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival. National Association of African Americans in Human Resources, Tampa, FL. Panel. January 2016.

“The Future of Black Womanhood.” National Council of Negro Women. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL. Keynote Address. April 2014.

“Defining Contemporary Feminism.” National Council of Negro Women. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL. Panel. March 2014.

“Being Black, Pursuing Academia,” Florida A&M University Student Government Association Lecture Series. Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL. Discussion. March 2011

“The Feminism of Our Mothers,” National Council of Negro Women. Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL. Speech. February 2011.

“Parental Involvement as the Key to Student Success.” Masters of Applied Social Sciences Graduate Program, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL. Workshop. December 2010.

“Black Women Will Save Us: Partnering Black Feminist Theory with Culturally Relevant Pedagogy to Teach Undergraduate Writing.” Ed. DuEwa Frazier. Teaching Humanities with Cultural Responsiveness at HBCUs and HSIs. Hershey: IGI Global. Print. 2024.

Mamas, Martyrs, and Jezebels: Myths, Legends, and Other Lies You’ve Been Told about Black Women. Eds. Clarissa West-White, Rondrea Danielle, Jan Boulware, Kideste Wilder. New York: Black Lawrence Press. Print. 2024.

“I Came with Resistance in Mind: Teaching and Learning as a Black Woman at a Predominately White Institution.” Underserved Women of Color, Voice, and Resistance: Claiming a Seat at the Table. Eds. Sonja Brown Givens and Keisha Edwards Tassie.
Lanham: Lexington Books. Print. 2014.