RESEARCH & WRITING RESOURCES
What to Consider When Researching and Writing Your Chapter on Ms. Dunham
We hope to receive your chapter for consideration. Keep in mind the deadline is one year from the Call for Book Chapters, so there is plenty of time to research, write, and edit your work. Below are some tips from the editorial team:
Submission:
Only complete chapters will be considered. Do not submit abstracts, proposals, or drafts. Please take time to read the CFP carefully and make use of all available resources. Editors have offered a full year between the CFP and submission deadline to encourage authors to do a deep dive into the vast primary and secondary sources available about Ms. Dunham.
Argument:
Connect Ms. Dunham's work to interdisciplinary discussion. Write from your area of expertise. Move conversations forward (which means referencing extant conversations) and offer new insights from your disciplinary perspective rather than simply reviewing what has already been written. Provide a unique argument and use diverse source types to support that argument.
Sources:
Deeply engage with primary and secondary sources on Ms. Dunham. There are numerous digital and physical archival materials available along with materials offered in the tome Kaiso. There are also a multitude of secondary sources that are more obscured that warrant engagement. Cite extant research and demonstrate knowledge of scholarship, but lean heavily into how untapped sources help expand understanding of Ms. Dunham's life and legacy.
Writing:
For tips on how to prepare your manuscript for critical review, reference chapters 6 & 7 in Black Feminist Writing: A Practical Guide to Publishing Academic Books (available as an e-book through many libraries). These chapters address professional practices and publishing practices that help scholars create sound, well-cited writing that will endure both critical review and stand the test of time.
Community:
Demonstrate due knowledge of work done by members of the Dunham community. Authors should acknowledge the significant contributions by those who worked directly with Ms. Dunham and reference those who have labored to keep her legacy alive in numerous ways.
Connect:
Here are ways to connect with the Dunham community:
• Attend the Dunham Technique Conference (July 2027)
• Take a Dunham Technique Online Monthly Community Classes
• Set Up a Meeting to Speak with Certified Teachers
• Interview Certified Teachers
AI Use:
Any use of AI must be disclosed by authors in a statement upon submission. As a sample guideline, consult the SUNY Press statement on artificial intelligence and generative AI: https://sunypress.edu/Publish/How-to-Submit-a-Book-Proposal. Pay close attention to requirements of originality, references, and citation.
READING
RESEARCH
Dunham Data
Black Travel Memoirs
Dunham Bibliography
Dunham Bibliography
Black Travel Memoirs
Dunham Bibliography
Black Travel Memoirs
Black Travel Memoirs
Dancing in Blackness
Katherine Dunham's Mark on Jazz
Katherine Dunham's Mark on Jazz
Katherine Dunham's Mark on Jazz
Katherine Dunham's Mark on Jazz
Black Passports
Katherine Dunham's Mark on Jazz
Katherine Dunham's Mark on Jazz
BLACK WOMEN'S DANCE HISTORY
A Research Resource
This collaborative research project seeks to recount journeys of dance-world luminaries like Josephine Baker, Janet Collins, Pearl Primus, Norma Miller, Judith Jamison, Virginia Johnson, Debbie Allen, L’Antionette Stines, Lula Washington, Misty Copeland, and Leiomy Maldanado while also commemorating foundations of community-building movements like the Katherine Dunham Company, Urban Bush Women, the International Association of Blacks in Dance, Collegium for African Diaspora Dance, the Spelman College Department of Dance and Choreography, the Howard University Bisonette Dance Ensemble, and Black-women-led programs and studios globally.
Black Women’s Dance History traces individuals, schools, and genres of cultural and performing arts.