Cynthia B. Dillard

Mary Frances Early Professor, The University of Georgia

Dr. Cynthia B. Dillard (Nana Mansa II of Mpeasem, Ghana, West Africa) is the Mary Frances Early Professor of Teacher Education in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice at The University of Georgia. A former high school teacher, Dr. Dillard’s teaching experience now spans three decades, several continents, and multiple grade levels.  Her major research interests include teacher education, spirituality in teaching and learning, and African/African American feminist studies in education. She has published numerous journal articles and book chapters on these topics.  Her first book, On Spiritual Strivings: Transforming an African American Woman’s Academic Life was published in 2006 by SUNY Press and was selected for the 2008 Critics’ Choice Book Award by the American Educational Studies Association (AESA). Her second book, Learning to (Re)member the Things We’ve Learned to Forget:  Endarkened Feminisms, Spirituality and the Sacred Nature of Teaching and (Re)Search was released by Peter Lang in March, 2012. Her latest book, We (Re)member:  Black Women Teachers and The Spirit of Our Work will be released in Fall, 2021 by Beacon Press. She has also co-edited Engaging Race, Culture and Spirituality in Education: New Visions In addition to Dr. Dillard’s professional development work with teachers in public elementary schools in the US, her research and service also focuses in Ghana, West Africa, where she has built and established a preschool and elementary school and is enstooled as Queen Mother of Development in the village of Mpeasem, Ghana. Interested in the connection between African spirituality, culture and education from the continent throughout the Africa diaspora, Dr. Dillard recent work focuses on the critical nature of (re)membering spirituality and global Black identity in educational research.