USF Researchers From Sarasota-Manatee Campus launch Anti-Racism Projects

September 28, 2020 – Sarasota

University of South Florida professors from the Sarasota-Manatee campus Denise Davis-Cotton and Kelly Cowart are joining other USF faculty in the fight against racism through two unique projects funded by the USF Research Task Force on Understanding and Addressing Blackness and Anti-Black Racism in our Local, National and International Communities.

“It is a tremendous honor to be selected by the task force for funding, and this is such a critical issue, and not just at universities but throughout our communities,” said Davis-Cotton, director of the Florida Center for Partnerships for Arts-Integrated Teaching (PAInT) at the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus.

Davis-Cotton is working with the Circus Arts Conservatory to introduce a program at a school in Sarasota that highlights the contribution of Black artists.

Cowart, an associate professor of marketing in the Muma College of Business, is partnering with other researchers to examine the harm caused by negative portrayals of Blacks in the media.

Cowart notes that while companies and other organizations are quick to announce their support for diversity, equity and inclusion, many aren’t dealing with systemic racism within their own organizations.

“Many companies say things such as, ‘We stand together’ and ‘We’re united,’ to appear inclusive to the public, but I think it’s inauthentic and opportunistic,” she said. “It means nothing to say Black lives matter and do nothing to improve the treatment of Blacks in your own companies. Consumers are demanding action, not just words.”

To explore the issue deeper, including the intersection between racism and marketing, Cowart is partnering with Leila Borders, professor and assistant chair of the Department of Marketing & Professional Sales at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, and Monica Allen, an assistant professor in the College of Education at North Carolina A&T State University.

Their project, “Mad Men: Using Cultural Competency to Reduce Racist Portrayals of Blacks in Advertising,” creates a cultural-competency learning module for marketing professionals to improve understanding, communication and awareness across cultures and to reduce racist content in marketing.

Cowart is enlisting help from students from her marketing promotions class and working with two companies – condiment maker WillMoore’s Twangy Wing Sauce and Fully Promoted, a branded products and marketing services franchise – to allow students to apply their new knowledge. As the students learn about media portrayals of Blacks, they’ll use what they’ve learned to create culturally sensitive promotional plans for the companies.

Cowart frequently collaborates with small businesses, but this project has taken on special significance, she says.

“I want my students to learn not only how to develop a promotional plan, but also to understand what implicit bias is, its destructive effects, and how to reduce it in their business and personal lives,” Cowart said.

After studying the companies and developing their promotional plans, the students will present them to the companies at the end of the semester. In addition, Cowart, Allen and Borders are conducting research to present at academic conferences.

Davis-Cotton’s project, “Dismantling Drivers of Racial Disparities,” takes a different approach: She’s developing a curriculum for a new program at Booker Middle School in Sarasota that spotlights Black artists’ contributions.

The curriculum, which aligns with the Cambridge Educational Program, emphasizes creativity, innovation and scholarly discourse. The Sarasota-based Circus Arts Conservatory is helping to implement the program, and Davis-Cotton plans to engage other artists and lead a few classes and teacher workshops as well.

Eventually, the curriculum will examine specific arts movements, including the Pan-African movement and Harlem Renaissance. Davis-Cotton says that, too often, the contributions of Black artists are misrepresented or ignored altogether.

“The aim of the curriculum is to focus on information not usually found in textbooks,” she said. “We’re looking at performing arts, visual arts and digital media through the perspective of Critical Race Theory, and we’re examining the influences of African-American art and the inequality experienced by Black artists.”

Davis-Cotton said she hopes the program leads to more culturally relevant content becoming integrated with the school curricula. Additionally, she hopes the program influences teachers to become more culturally sensitive and helps them to improve “how the school identifies with the student, versus how the student identifies with the school.”

“This is not only about transforming students, but about transforming teachers and looking at information omitted from textbooks, as well as the misinformation in textbooks, to fill in the gaps, bring in cultural understanding and advance inclusion,” she said. “I’m very excited about this project.”

To assist with curriculum development and program implementation, Davis-Cotton is working with Booker Middle School Principal LaShawn Houston Frost, Assistant Principal Rebecca Coleman, theatre teacher Christine Hawkins, and Circus Arts Conservatory representatives Jennifer Mitchell and Karen Bell. 

To help with research and analysis, she’s partnering with Cowart and two other USF professors: Kyaien Conner of the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy and Omotayo Jolaosho of the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies.