Using Experiential Learning to Elevate Black Voices: Analyzing Howard University's Journal, The Amistad

Abstract

Students taking higher education humanities courses value hard skills to succeed post-graduation. The author, who serves as both managing editor and faculty advisor to Howard University's literary arts journal ‘The Amistad,' models how this can be achieved through the Experiential Learning Theory (ELT). By relating the core principles of ELT (concrete learning, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation) to a creative writing course that workshops student writing and produces a literary arts journal, the author provides an analytical template for other HBCUs courses to follow or expand upon. The chapter also unpacks the importance of reworking the creative writing workshop to one more in-line with HBCU demographics and a stronger assessment on the choices which govern student's creative writing process(es). This chapter's purpose is not to persuade but help interested creative writing instructors start or consider ways to assist young Black writers, publish more diverse authors, and provide marketable skills to students.