PhD Candidate in the Higher Education, Student Affairs, and International Education Policy program with a concentration in Student Affairs at the University of Maryland
Stephanie Bent is a PhD candidate in the Higher Education, Student Affairs, and International Education Policy program with a concentration in Student Affairs at the University of Maryland. At the University of Maryland, she is also a student in the Latin American and Caribbean Studies graduate certificate program. She holds a Master of Education in Anthropology and Education from Teachers College-Columbia University, a Master of Science in Higher Education-Student Affairs from Florida State University, and an Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics for Georgia Tech. From her experience working in residence life, living-learning communities, and academic advising at various institutions, Stephanie understands the challenges student affairs practitioners face in using theory in their practice. Stephanie sees her practitioner experience as an asset for producing scholarship which student affairs practitioners can use for translating theory to practice.
Stephanie migrated from Jamaica to the United States during high school. She proudly embraces her Jamaican culture in all aspects of her life. She attributes her love for education to one of the proverbs she recited in school in Jamaica: “Silver and gold will vanish away, but a good education will never decay.” Stephanie uses research to quench her curiosity for learning and hopes her teaching inspires students to be curious learners.
During her time at Teachers College, Stephanie learned about the power of the Caribbean-American identity in Brooklyn, NY. Stephanie identifies as Caribbean American and advocates for alliances among Caribbean people. She is committed to using her research and teaching to advance liberation for Caribbean peoples. Stephanie received a Fulbright student award to complete her dissertation fieldwork in Barbados, where she is exploring how to teach youth (18-25 year old) about decolonization.
Stephanie is an avid track and field fan. During the Olympics and the World Athletics Championships, you will find her watching a phone or tv screen cheering for a Jamaican or a Caribbean athlete. Stephanie finds inspiration in the lives of the Jamaican Women track athletes, especially Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce. Stephanie enjoys spending time with her nieces, who boldly hold Stephanie accountable for resting by inviting her to virtually join the play activity of the day.
Stephanie Bent’s research focuses on decolonizing higher education and teaching about decolonization in the Caribbean and among the Caribbean diaspora in the United States. She draws on theories and methods from Caribbean Studies, US Black Feminism, and digital humanities to identify practical ways to decolonize research methods. As a decolonization scholar, she also disrupts the colonial flow of knowledge from the Global North to the Global South by positioning the Caribbean as a source of knowledge in her push against how US higher education and student affairs enacts coloniality.
Stephanie explores how Caribbean youth and higher education students understand and enact decolonization. Her dissertation research is about how Barbadian youth aged 18-25 years understand decolonization. The Barbados government provides public education about decolonization through policy and programming, and Stephanie’s research will provide insight into how youth respond to public discourse about decolonization. As research about Caribbean students’ critical consciousness is limited, her dissertation research will undoubtedly raise questions for future research about how to engage college students in decolonizing the Caribbean.
Stephanie also explores how Caribbean-American students develop a positive view of their ethnic identity. With limited research on the ethnic differences among Black students, Caribbean-American students’ experiences are rendered invisible. When Black Caribbean college students in the United States want to explore their history and culture, student affairs theories direct practitioners to guide students toward exploring African American history. Stephanie’s research pushes back on this neo-colonial practice, which elevates the United States as the center of global history and culture. In her research, she aims to understand how Caribbean students currently use and could potentially use Caribbean culture to respond to racism in the United States.
Stephanie’s research also explores how embracing Caribbean culture can create effective educational practices for Caribbean higher education. She explores existing student affairs practice in the Caribbean and uses Caribbean Studies theories to theorize about culturally appropriate Caribbean student affairs practices.
Stephanie uses her research to push against the dominance of Western epistemologies and ontologies in student affairs practice and research. She uses US Black Feminism and Caribbean Studies to form alternative methodologies. She hopes her scholarship provides pathways for others to develop their Caribbean-flavored student affairs scholarship and practice.