Director's Message for June

A monthly e-newsletter for current and future women of color doctoral candidates.

Celebrating SisterMentors' Newest Ph.D.
On May 17, 2002, Kangbai Konaté became SisterMentors' 14th Ph.D. receiving her doctorate with highest honors in Sociology from one of France's most prestigious universities, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Our celebration of Kangbai's achievement included dancing, tributes, and presentation of our traditional gift. This is a wonderful accomplishment for SisterMentors. It is indeed phenomenal that, given our limited resources, we have still managed to help 14 women of color to get their doctorates in the nearly 5 years of our existence.	Photos from SisterMentors' celebration of Kangbai Konaté receiving her Ph.D.
Kangbai's dissertation was written in French and entitled L'utilisation et la place de l'Afrique dans le processus identitaire des Noirs américains: discours interprétative et négociation culturelle [The Use and Place of Africa in the African American Process of Self Identification: Interpretative Discourse and Cultural Negotiation]. Her dissertation committee was made up of distinguished scholars such as Michel Wieviorka, Elikia M'Bokolo, Denis Lacorne, and John Atherton. After about 3 hours of tough grilling by her committee, Kangbai was awarded her doctorate with highest honors. Family and friends present at her defense applauded her great accomplishment. Like many of SisterMentors' graduates, Kangbai is the first generation in her family to get a doctorate. With her mother from Mali and her father from Guinea, Kangbai was born and grew up in France and has been living in the United States for the past five years. As advised by her dissertation chair, she intends to publish her dissertation as a book in both French and English. She also plans to continue doing development work related to women, girls, and youth, particularly in post-conflict countries in Francophone Africa. For a short bio on Kangbai Konaté and a summary of her dissertation click the links for English or French.
Shireen K. Lewis, J.D., Ph.D., Executive Director