Journal of Africana Composition and Rhetoric Special Edition: "Finding Our Voices Through Nikki Giovanni," with a Preface By Nikki Giovanni
About the Author: Monique Leslie Akassi, Ph.D. is an award winning educator, author, editor, scholar, researcher, and public figure. She is a native from Cincinnati, Ohio & currently lives in Washington DC during the school year. Dr. Monique Leslie Akassi earned a B.A in English and Comparative Literature from the University of Cincinnati; an M.A in English Composition & Rhetoric from Wright State University; currently pursuing an M.A in General Management at Harvard University; and a Ph.D in English with areas of concentration in English Composition and Rhetoric with minors in Literary Criticism Theory and African American Literature. She is currently a full time Tenure Track Assistant Professor of English Composition and Rhetoric and Director of The Writing Center at Morgan State University where she teaches both Graduate and Undergraduate courses. Dr. Akassi is currently working on her seventh book with Cambridge, entitled W.E.B. Du Bois and Africana Rhetoric of Dealienation, which will release Fall 2014. She is also author/editor of the following books: College Expository Writing, Argument, and Research at Bowie State University, Engagements With Interactive English at Bowie State University, Journal of Africana Composition and Rhetoric, Bowie State University's Journal of Research and Writing Across The Curriculum, Research & Writing Across The Curriculum, Research & Writing Across The Curriculum (Second Edition), Post-Colonial Composition Pedagogy: Using The Culture of Marginalized Students To Teach Writing, and Neo Hybrid Pedagogy: An Investigation On Writing Portfolios For African American Students. Dr. Akassi coined Post-Colonial Composition Pedagogy, marking a major paradigm shift in the current methods of teaching instruction in writing courses today. Her first book, Neo Hybrid Pedagogy: An Investigation on Writing Portfolios for African American Students, is the first quantitative, true experimental design, providing alternative methods of instruction for using writing portfolios in classes for minority students whose first language is not Standard English.