Presentations

“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose. It is a seeking that he who wishes may know the cosmic secrets of the world and they that dwell therein.” — Zora Neale Hurston

2025 Champions Summit of Excellence Series

Dr. Gaines had the pleasure of giving a lecture as part of the CHAMPIONS Program Lecture Series at Bloomfield College of Montclair State University. The presentation explored what Africana Studies is, why it matters, and the academic and professional opportunities available to students who major or minor in the field. The students and audience brought energy, curiosity, and thoughtful questions.

2024 Summer Faculty Development Institute,

Hispanic Serving Institution Track

Dr. Gaines was invited to speak on a panel at the 2024 Summer Faculty Development Institute for the Hispanic Serving Institution Track. On this panel, she shared some of the ways that she immerses students in the culture, history, and experiences of diverse cultural communities via a study away course. The audience was challenged to leave the presentation with new insights into how to apply universal design learning and a servingness mindset to a diverse student body.

John T. Washington Lecture Series

Dr. Gaines was invited as a featured speaker for the University of Central Florida’s Africana Studies annual John T. Washington Lecture Series. You can view that presentation to the left.

Recent Conference Presentations

Association for Interdisciplinary Studies Conference, 43rd Annual Meeting

Critical Race Studies in Education Association Conference, 14th Annual Meeting

In this conference presentation, Dr. Gaines shares some of her pedagogical practices, as incorporated in an African American Studies Department/Black Studies courses.

This research shares some of the ways that Baltimore City teachers resisted inequities faced in their elementary school.

James Weldon Johnson Lecture Series

Dr. Gaines presented at the annual James Weldon Johnson Lecture Series as an invited panelist. This presentation is available to the right.

Dr. Gaines’ most recent presentations and lectures can be found below.

Conference Presentations

Gaines, L. T. (2026). “A Case that was Equivalent to Brown v. Board of Education”: Memories of the Black English Case [paper presentation]. Japan Black Studies Association, 72nd Annual Conference. Tokyo, Japan.

Gaines, L. T. (2026). Pedagogy as Liberation: Teaching Africana Histories as Contemporary Return [paper presentation]. Caribbean Studies Association, 50th Annual Conference. Kingston, Jamaica.

Gaines, L. T. (2026). Memory of the Black English Case: Black Linguistic Displacement and the Fight for Educational Justice [paper presentation]. Common Ground Consortium: Advancing Black Intellectualism Conference, 6thAnnual Conference. Virtual Meeting.

Royster, M. D., Jackson, C., Gaines, L. T., and Shields, M. W. (2026). The Fear of Black Consciousness [Panel Presentation]. Philosophy of Communication Conference, 7th Biennial Conference. Virtual Meeting.

Gaines, L. T. (2026). From the classroom to the Capital: Undergraduate study away in Washington, DC during sociopolitical turmoil [paper presentation]. National Council for Black Studies, 50th Annual Conference. Baltimore, Maryland.

Gaines, L. T., Cleophat, N., Headley, J., Rutter, E. (2026). Teaching Black futures: Africana Studies pedagogies and practices at New Jersey’s only Predominantly Black Institution [roundtable discussion]. National Council for Black Studies, 50th Annual Conference. Baltimore, Maryland.

Cleophat, N., and Gaines, L. T. (2026). Reimaging the engaged university: Applied Africana Studies as praxis, pedagogy, and institutional transformation. 2026 Faculty Showcase: Toward an Engaged University [panel presentation]. Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ.

Gaines, L. T. (2025). “The struggle for freedom, justice, and equality transcends racial and ethnic boundaries”: Cooperation and conflict amongst Black and Japanese Americans [paper presentation]. Japan Black Studies Association, 71st Annual Conference. Fukuoka, Japan.

Gaines, L. T. (2025). From the classroom to the coast: Studying away, Gullah Geechee culture, and practices of resistance. Conference on Race, Racialization, and Resistance: Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Humanities. Seattle, Washington.

Gaines, L. T. (2024). Black Studies and study away: Immersing students in Afro Puerto Rico [paper presentation]. Japan Black Studies Association, 70th Annual Conference. Tokyo (Shibuya), Japan.

Gaines, L. T. (2023). Studying Away as a Pedagogy of Resistance: High Impact Learning Practices for Marginalized Students in Anti-DEI Florida [paper presentation]. Association for Ethnic Studies, 51st Annual Conference. Howard University, Washington, D.C.

Gaines, LT. (2023). There is Strength in Numbers: Recruitment as a Tool for Protecting Ethnic Studies [paper presentation]. Association for Ethnic Studies, 51st Annual Conference. Howard University, Washington, D.C.

Gaines, L. T., and Williams, F. (2023). An Unexpected Packing List: Making Study Away Accessible for All Students Through Course Design. Digital Learning Day [paper presentation]. University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.

Williams, F., and Gaines, L. T., (2023). Exploring Classroom Language Use: Students’ Perceptions of Language Inclusivity and Exclusivity. 2023 St. Leo University Research Symposium, Dialogue Across Disciplines [paper presentation]. St. Leo University, St. Leo, Florida.

Gaines, L. T., Woodill, S., Cadwell Bazata, D., Eadens, D. A., and Haslett, K. (2022). Centering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Central Florida [paper presentation]. The Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 44th Annual Conference. Sanoma State University, Rohnert Park, California.

Gaines, L. T. (2022). “The Color Line … May Go Forever”: Beauty advertisements, Black women, and the Imagination of Equality. The Japan Black Studies Association, 68th Annual Conference. Tokyo, Japan/Virtual Meeting.

Gaines, L. T. (2022). “Turns Black Skin White”: Black Women, Status, and Early 1900s American Beauty Advertisements. Eurasia Research, International Conference on Social Science and Humanities, 8th International Conference. The Tomlinson Centre, London, UK.

Gaines, L. T. (2021). “There’s Boarded up Project Houses”: Socio-Economic Injustices, Urban Education, and Provisional Resistance in Baltimore. Critical Race Studies in Education Association, 14th Annual Conference. University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware.

Gaines, L. T. (2021). Black Centered Action Instruction: Interdisciplinary Pedagogies to Serve Black Student Learning. The Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 43rd Annual Conference. Southern Utah University, Virtual Meeting.

Gaines, L. T. (2021). “The School Buildings are not Structurally Appropriate for a Learning Environment”: Educational Inequities and Provisional Resistance in Baltimore. The Japan Black Studies Association, 67th Annual Conference. Tokyo, Japan/Virtual Meeting.

Gaines, L. T. (2020). “Being in the Center of the Crojects”: Urban Education, Structural Inequities, and Provisional Resistance. The Japan Black Studies Association, 66th Annual Conference. Meiji Gakuin University, Shirokane Campus, Tokyo, Japan. (Paper accepted, conference canceled because of global efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19/Coronavirus)

Gaines, L. T. (2020, Apr 17 - 21) Provisional Resistance as Temporary Survival: A Case Study of Baltimore, Urban Education, and Structural Inequities [Paper Session]. AERA Annual Meeting San Francisco, CA http://tinyurl.com/tzq4ogp (Conference Canceled, COVID-19/Coronavirus)

Gaines, L. T. (2020). Serving African American Students at a Hispanic-Serving Institution: Black Centered Action Instruction as a Pedagogical Practice of a Black Studies Educator. National Council for Black Studies, 44th annual conference. Atlanta, Georgia.

Gaines, L. T. (2020). “We’re Here to Support our Parents and our Students.”: African American Language to Express Community. National Council for Black Studies, 44th annual conference. Atlanta, Georgia.

Gaines, L. T. (2020). Tupac’s use of Hip Hop Nation Language to Relay, Resist, and Promote Resilience. National Council for Black Studies, 44th annual conference. Atlanta, Georgia.

Gaines, L. T. (2019). “Being in the Center of the Projects”: Urban Education, Structural Inequities, and Provisional Resistance. National Council for Black Studies, 43rd annual conference. New Orleans, Louisiana.

Gaines, L. T. (2017). Urban Education and sSructural Inequities: A Baltimore Case Study. The Association for the Study of African American Life and History, 102nd annual meeting and conference. Cincinnati, Ohio.

Gaines, L. T. (2017). In the Midst of Crisis: Language and Resistance in Flint. National Council for Black Studies, 41stannual conference. Houston, Texas.

Invited Talks, Presentations, and Panels

Spring 2026 American Educational Research Association annual meeting, Division B, Panel Title: Rooted in Futures: Race, Gender, and Technology as Curricular Tools of Resistance, Presentation Title: When the City Becomes the Classroom: Findings from an Undergraduate Study Away Course in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, California

Spring 2026 Transformative Learning in an Anti-DEI Era: Africana Studies, Education, and High Impact Practices, College for Education and Engaged Learning, Montclair State University

Spring 2026 “The Long Train of Abuses and Usurpations…” Black History Month Panel, Bloomfield College of Montclair State University

Spring 2026 Black History Month Opening Day Ceremony, Presented on the accomplishments of Mary McLeod Bethune, Montclair State University

Summer 2026 More than Just a Major: How Africana Studies Helps Black Men Lead, Workshop, CHAMPIONS Program, Bloomfield College of Montclair State University

Fall 2025 Bloomfield College of Montclair State University, CHAMPIONS Program, The CHAMPIONS Summit of Excellence Series, Presentation Title: Education is for Liberation: Why Africana Studies Matters!

Summer 2024 Invited Panelist, Summer Faculty Development Institute (Hispanic Serving Institution Track), University of Central Florida

Presentation title: “Serving Students in the Margins: Making Immersive Experiences Accessible to All Students”

Summer 2024 University of Central Florida’s Office of Undergraduate Research, Summer Research Academy, Faculty Panel

Fall 2023 Invited Speaker, Delta Red Carpet: The Color Purple, The Orlando Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Fall 2023 University of Central Florida’s International Education Week

Presentation title: Go Away!: Study Abroad and Study Away with the College of Undergraduate Studies

Fall 2023 The Ginsburg Center for Inclusion and Community Engagement’s 11th Annual Student Success Conference

Presentation title: Study Abroad, Study Away

Summer 2023 Juneteenth Celebration, hosted by University of Central Florida’s Multicultural Student Center, Black Student Union, Ginsburg Center for Inclusion and Community Engagement, and Black Faculty & Staff Association

Spring 2022 John T. Washington Lecture Series, Featured Speaker, Africana Studies Program and Interdisciplinary Studies Program, University of Central Florida. Presentation title: “It Could, in Fact, Conquer the Color Line”: Black Women, Beauty Advertisements, and Dreams of Equalityhttps://youtu.be/XMwmb_SYfXg

Fall 2021 James Weldon Johnson Lecture Series, Invited Panelist, Africana Studies Program and Interdisciplinary Studies Program, University of Central Florida. Presentation title: “In 1492, Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue”: Lost Communities, Study Away Initiatives, and Student Retentionhttps://youtu.be/z8H6suIEV94

Spring 2021 Discussion of Daughters of the Dust, Invited Panelist, Department of English, The College of Wooster

Spring 2020Structural Inequities within Urban Education, Invited Lecture, African American/Black Student Success Center, Black Faculty Lecture Series, San José State University (Campus closed to limit the spread of COVID-19, lecture canceled)

Spring 2020Black and Brown Experiences in Education, Invited Lecture, Chicana and Chicano Studies and Young Women’s Freedom Center, San José State University (Campus closed to limit the spread of COVID-19, lecture canceled)

Fall 2019How to Apply to Graduate School, Workshop, Life After Series, Department of African American Studies, San José State University