Dr. Ayshia Mackie-Stephenson, Assistant Professor of Performance Studies in Xavier’s Department of Art and Performance Studies, and her students were published in SAGE Publishing’s Qualitative Inquiry, a high-ranking academic journal. Dr. Mackie-Stephenson and performance studies students: Camorei Baker, Larrysha Bryant, Ashlei Dozier, Joy Eddy, Jacqueline Herron, Jenna Lee, Carli Malveaux, Rakiya Mcclain, Najah Nicholas, Jada Owens, Julian Rumley, Noel Sims, and Janya Thomas created the collaborative script, “What is Black Love: A Collaborative HBCU Class Performance.” Passionate about performance, Dr. Mackie-Stephenson’s guidance has forged pathways for students to achieve academic success.

As an award-winning writer, activist and intimacy director, Dr. Mackie-Stephenson has choreographed intimate scenes for live performances and film. Her work is grounded in using performance to investigate human rights, race and sexuality. She is proud to be a Xavier professor as she has the opportunity to teach Black and brown students the significance of performance studies.

Performance not only encompasses theatre but how an individual presents themselves to the world. Dr. Mackie-Stephenson shared how a person dresses and their hairstyles are a type of performance, such as how braids and natural hair showcase Black pride.

“Performance is the presentation of identity and culture. There are performances we see in culture, media, and the performances of everyday life,” said Dr. Mackie-Stephenson. “When we see people acting on television, stage, and when we interact with each other in personal and social conversations, this is all performance because it’s what we decide to show others.”

The performance studies course covered topics such as performance’s connection to African history and discussing indigenous roots of performance in West Africa, particularly modern-day Nigeria. Her course also emphasized the performance of Black civil rights and activism. The students’ interest in social justice and Black people’s participation in performance sparked conversations about Black solidarity and Black love, the topic of their published project.

Dr. Mackie-Stephenson was proud of the collaborative project as its rationale was to emphasize the practice of Black love, which is significant to how Black people exist and support one another.

“This project is important to human rights and performance studies because Black lives matter, and we are human beings. Unfortunately, because of white supremacy, we have a history of violence being inflicted upon our bodies and being pitted against each other for our skin complexion, hair, and a variety of things,” said Dr. Mackie-Stephenson. “I thought this would make a great social justice project if we resisted that and instead asked, ‘what are the ways that we can and do love each other?’”

The students wrote poetry on Black love and an entire script made up of individual and collaborative student writing. The students also prepared a final class performance of their script. Dr. Mackie-Stephenson hopes a public performance can be held for the Xavier community in the future.

With Dr. Mackie-Stephenson’s guidance and feedback, the project went through revisions before she submitted it for publication. She also wrote the project’s introduction and conclusion to help frame the students’ work and is proud to play a role in her students’ prestigious publication.

“I published my own research in this journal and knew they supported social justice. It was really exciting that the journal loved this project and wanted to publish it,” said Dr. Mackie-Stephenson. “I was honored to work with the students, and it’s wonderful for them to have a publication at such a young age.”

This publication was also meaningful to Dr. Mackie-Stephenson and her students for what the project symbolizes.

“For me, the publication says that Black writing and Black love matter. It’s also a symbol of the fact that I’ve taught at a variety of places, and Xavier students are some of the best writers I’ve encountered,” said Dr. Mackie-Stephenson. “Writing is a part of Black history and a way we hold, keep, and document our culture. The publication is a testament to how brilliant and talented our students are.”

Xavier junior Jenna Lee was happy to be part of the collaborative project. She shared that effective communication with her colleagues and Dr. Mackie-Stephenson was imperative, as they could share and collaborate ideas efficiently to create the project. She emphasizes Black representation and showing Black love in the media is vital.

“The topic of ‘Black love’ highlights and showcases all the positive achievements, relations, and dynamics that Black people go through that are not always shown or prioritized,” said Lee. “It’s important for future Black generations to not only see people like themselves, but to see people like themselves being loved and represented properly.”

The publication also exemplified what performance studies represents.

“Performance is not just interested in the ways we present identity, but in the way we can transform identity. It’s interested in the ways we transform culture and create social change,” explained Dr. Mackie-Stephenson. “The beautiful thing about performance studies is how we can do storytelling, create culture, present identity, and impact in ways that improve people’s lives.”

Performance studies also does not limit itself to one career path. In addition to performance, media, writing, and directing; performance studies creates avenues for students to work in activism, advocacy, equity, diversity and inclusion, social change, and multicultural fields. Dr. Mackie-Stephenson shared performance studies also offers skills applicable to various professions, such as medicine as medical fields can also require creativity.

“There’s so much going on between medical therapy and art therapy, where people in the medical field must know how to be creative and innovative. Performance studies can be used in addition to sciences, and students can find themselves with an exciting career as a performance studies major,” said Dr. Mackie-Stephenson.

Dr. Mackie-Stephenson’s dedication to her work and pupils has helped these students reach a notable academic achievements that will follow them as they embark on future careers. Bringing the question of Black love to her classroom instilled knowledge into students and fostered an environment to build Black love and community.

To read “What is Black Love: A Collaborative HBCU Class Performance,” click here.

To read The Gestalt, Xavier’s Department of Arts and Performance Studies newsletter, click here.

To learn more about Xavier’s new performance studies program, contact Dr. Mackie-Stephenson at amackies@xula.edu.