Dr. Christina Wright Fields
Assistant Professor of Education
Bio
Christina Wright Fields, Ph.D. is a higher education scholar whose research agenda focuses on historically marginalized students’ experiences both in K-12 and postsecondary education contexts, issues pertinent to student access and academic success, social justice and activism, and the influence of teacher and student cultural identities within the classroom. Fields possesses over a decade of experience with supervising student and professional staff, developing student affairs and academic affairs partnerships, overseeing college preparation programs, creating innovative multicultural and international initiatives, and developing cultural competency courses and workshops.
Fields is affiliated with and highly involved in numerous professional associations in higher education and teacher education, including the Association for Study of Higher Education (ASHE), Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA), American College Personnel (ACPA), New York Association of Teacher Educators (NYSATE), and New York Association for Colleges of Teacher Education (NYACTE). She has presented many research papers, workshops, and roundtables nationally at ASHE, NASPA, ACPA, American Education Research Association (AERA), and National Council on Race & Ethnicity (NCORE) conferences. Fields has been recognized by the NASPA’s Region II for Distinguished Excellence in Diversity award, ACPA Supporting Latino/a Student Success Award, and NASPA’s African American Knowledge KUUMBA New Professionals Award.
Education
PhD, Higher Education Administration Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH
Dissertation: A Case Study of Urban African-centered Charter School Personnel Development and Support of a College-Preparatory Ethos.
MS, Higher Education Administration with Enrollment Management, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
Thesis: Assessment of Institutional Diversity and Development of Ethnic Studies Program at Buena Vista University.
BS, Biology with African American Studies and Chemistry minors, Millersville University, Millersville, PA
Research Interests / Areas of Focus
My research and teaching interests include issues pertinent to historically marginalized students’ access and academic success. This focus is comprised of four interrelated aspects: 1) cultural identity development; 2) college-going cultures; 3) social justice; and 4) campus and community partnerships.
Selected Publications
*Rifenburgh, R. & Wright Fields, C. (2023). O’Hosea Williams. In A. Jones (Ed.), African-American Activism and Political Engagement: An Encyclopedia of Empowerment (p. 385). ABC-CLIO.
Gathers, D. & Wright Fields, C. (2023). Culturally relevant pedagogy analysis of cultural dispositions in teacher education. In S.C. von Hohenberg (Ed.) Dispositional development and assessment in teacher preparation programs (pp. 120-135). IGI Global.
*Wright Fields, C. & Castellanos, R. (2023). Dorothy Height. In A. Jones (Ed.), African-American Activism and Political Engagement: An Encyclopedia of Empowerment (p. 215). ABC-CLIO.
Wright Fields, C. & Overby, K. (2022). #BlackInTheIvory: Utilizing Twitter to explore Black female experiences in the academy. In C.J. Porter, V.T. Sulé and N.N. Croom (Eds.) Black Feminist Epistemology, Research, and Praxis: Narratives in and through the Academy (pp. 107-114). Routledge.
Wright Fields, C. & Conyers, A. (2022). An Argument for administrative critical consciousness in public administration. Public Integrity, 24(2), 414-421. https://doi.org/10.1080/10999922.2022.2034340
Wright Fields, C. & Kelly, M. (2021). Expect the unexpected: (Re)Defining the landscape of equity work during COVID-19. Dialogues in Social Justice: An Adult Education Journal, 6(2), A1146.
Wright Fields, C. & Kelly, M. (2021). Challenging niceness as womanhood in teacher education. In T.A. Fowler & W.S.A., Duoethnographic encounters: Opening spaces for difficult dialogues in times of uncertainty (pp. 133-144). DIO Press, Inc.
Wright Fields, C., & Power-Carter, S. (2021). Writing While Black: The Power of Words and Student’s Self-Empowerment. Journal of African American Women and Girls in Education, 1(1), 24-38. https://doi.org/10.21423/jaawge-v1i1a28
Conyers, A. & Wright Fields, C. (2020). A Critical race theory analysis of institutional racial paralysis in organizational culture. Public Integrity, 23(5), 484-495. https://doi.org/10.1080/10999922.2020.1832365
Wright Fields, C. (2020). In the spirit of Ubuntu: Educating and leading through an African-centered paradigm. Journal of Education Human Resources, 38(2): 173-193. https://doi.org/10.3138/jehr-2019-0013
Kelly, M. & Wright Fields, C. (2020). Unlocking the doors: Opening spaces for inclusive pedagogy and practice in teacher education. In C.K. Clausen & S.R. Logan, Integrating Social Justice Education in Teacher Preparation Programs. (pp. 1-28). IGI Global.
(*) denotes student collaboration
Selected Presentations
Hogan, Lynn, Carlson, C. Parnther, C. & Wright Fields, C. (2021, March). Cultivating Academic Affairs Professionals. Roundtable at ACPA-College Student Educators International Convention, Online.
Wright Fields, C. & Kelly, M. (2021, February). Keep Calm and Teach On: The shifting landscape of equity work during COVID-19. Workshop presented at American Association of Colleges of Teacher Educators (AACTE).
Kelly, M. & Wright Fields, C. (2020, February). In your shoes: The use of collaborative ethnography to develop cultural humility in teacher education programs. Workshop presented at American Association of Colleges of Teacher Educators (AACTE). Atlanta, GA.
Allison, K., Wright Fields, C., & Early, S. (2018, April). Get Me Bodied: Using Embodied Pedagogy in Social Justice Education. Student Affairs Administrator in Higher Education (NASPA) Conference. Philadelphia, PA.
Howell, G., Lewis, K., & Wright Fields, C. (2017, November). The Elephant in the Room: White Identity Development in a Pre-College Program. Association for the Study of higher Education (ASHE) Conference. Houston, TX.
Wright Fields, C., Vasquez, B., & Martinez, S. (2017, May). Nuestra Identidad Y Experiencias (Our Identity and Experiences): Understanding Latino cultural identity in high school students and its influences on college-going. Program at National Council for Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) Conference. Fort Worth, TX.
Howell, G., Campbell, T., Overby, K., and Wright Fields, C. (2017, March). Creating and Sustaining our Village: Fictive Kinship and Black Female Doctoral Students. Program at American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Conference. Columbus, OH.
Wright Fields, C., & Carter, G. (2016, November). The Realness of Race and the Myths of Ethnicity. Anderson Community School Diversity Conference. Sponsored keynote address by the Anderson Community School Diversity Council and Anderson Education Foundation, and the Anderson Federation of Teachers. Anderson, IN.
Wright Fields, C., Lovelace, D., & Power-Carter, S. (2015, March). Don’t leave home without it: Your cultural identity—Students’ Exploration of their own Cultural Identity in a Pre-College Academy. Program at the NASPA—Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education Conference, New Orleans, LA.
Wright Fields, C. (2014, April). A Case Study Exploring an Urban African-Centered Charter School’s Personnel’s Transmission and Support of a College Preparatory Ethos. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.
Awards and Honors
NASPA Region II Distinguished Excellence in Diversity Award, 2018, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA)
NASPA Excellence Award Grand Bronze Honoree, 2017, International, Multicultural, Cultural, Gender, LGBTQ, Spirituality, Disability, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA)
Certificate of Appreciation (Diversity Equity, and Multicultural Affairs), 2015, Indiana University Bloomington
Support Latino/a Student Success Award, 2015, American College Personnel Association (ACPA)
African American Knowledge Community KUUMBA New Professionals Award, 2014, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA)
Multicultural Network Student of the Year Award, 2013, American College Personnel Association (ACPA)
Katzner Graduate Student Research and Professional Development Fund Award, 2013, Bowling Green State University
Higher Education Administration Student Contribution Award, 2013, Bowling Green State University
