Faculty

Dr. Leah Gaines

Leah Tonnette Gaines, Ph.D.

Lecturer
College of Undergraduate Studies

Email: leah.gaines@ucf.edu

Research Interests

All lived experiences of African Americans and Africans throughout the Diaspora, both historical and contemporary. This includes, but is not limited to studying race and identity, educational experiences, socioeconomic realities of African Americans, African American Language, and Black beauty politics. I employ qualitative research methods.

Publications

Book Chapters/Journal Articles

  • Gaines, L. T. (2022). “This Ain’t Just a Rap Song”: 2Pac, Sociopolitical Realities, and Hip Hop Nation Language. Journal of Hip Hop Studies. https://doi.org/10.34718/ce1e-8428
  • Gaines, L. T. (2021). In the midst of the water crisis: Language and resistance in Flint. Race Ethnicity and Education. DOI: 10.1080/13613324.2021.1890557
  • Gaines, L. T. (accepted). Serving African American Students at a Hispanic-Serving Institution: Black Centered Action Instruction as a Pedagogical Practice of a Black Studies Educator. Journal of Underrepresented & Minority Progress.

Conference Presentations

  • 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. (2022). “The color line … may go forever”: Beauty advertisements, Black women, and the imagination of equality [paper presentation]. 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 [paper presentation]. Eurasia Research, International Conference on Social Science and Humanities, 8th International Conference. The Tomlinson Centre, London, UK. (Awarded Best Paper Presenter Award)
  • 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. (2021). “The school buildings are not structurally appropriate for a learning environment”: Educational inequities and provisional resistance in Baltimore [paper presentation]. The Japan Black Studies Association, 67th Annual Conference. Tokyo, Japan/Virtual Meeting.
  • Gaines, L. T. (2021). “There’s boarded up project houses”: Socio-economic injustices, urban education, and provisional resistance in Baltimore [paper presentation]. 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 [paper presentation]. The Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 43rd Annual Conference. Southern Utah University, Virtual Meeting.
  • 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 [paper presentation]. 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 [paper presentation]. 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 [paper presentation]. National Council for Black Studies, 44th annual conference. Atlanta, Georgia.
  • Gaines, L. T. (2020). “Being in the center of the projects”: Urban education, structural inequities, and provisional resistance [paper presentation]. 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. (2019). “Being in the center of the projects”: Urban education, structural inequities, and provisional resistance [paper presentation]. National Council for Black Studies, 43rd annual conference. New Orleans, Louisiana.
  • Gaines, L. T. (2017). Urban education and structural inequities: A Baltimore case study [paper presentation]. 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 [paper presentation]. National Council for Black Studies, 41st annual conference. Houston, Texas.

Awards

  • Best Paper Presenter Award. International Conference on Social Science & Humanities (ICSSH). London, UK. Paper title: “Turns Black Skin White”: Status, Black Women, and Early 1900s American Beauty Advertisements. April 2022
  • Perry-Williams Postdoctoral Fellowship. The College of Wooster. Fall 2020-Spring 2021

Additional Information

Dr. Leah Gaines is proud to provide service to students, the department, the university, the field, and the community. She does this through leadership as an executive board member of UCF’s Black Faculty and Staff Association, her positions on multiple committees for the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies, chairing of multiple Honors Thesis committees, acting as a reviewer for various journals, service as a graduate faculty scholar, and as a member at large of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

She also leads the study away initiatives for IDS, which allows students to immerse in diverse cultures, gain research experience, and earn course credits. So far this research intensive and high impact learning course has allowed Dr. Gaines to take students to St. Augustine, New Orleans, and San Juan.

Dr. Gaines instructs the following courses:

  • IDS 3333: Issues in Diversity Studies
  • IDS 3933: Cornerstone Experience
  • IDS 4602: Reviving the Past: Researching Lost Communities
  • IDS 4686: Diversity, Popular Media, and Representations
  • IDS 4903H: Honors Directed Readings I
  • IDS 4934: Capstone Experience
  • IDS 4970H: Honors Thesis I
  • IDS 4971H: Honors Thesis II