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Beth Godbee, Ph.D.

This photo shows Beth in a black fleece jacket and hat, pressing against a stone wall, with head turned to face the camera, and smiling. The rock stretches outward to the right.

Beth Godbee, Ph.D. | Writer, Educator, Researcher, Coach

Hello! I’m an educator, writer, and former writing studies professor who now offers public education courses, coaching, and retreats. My research addresses matters of social, racial, and environmental justice; power, agency, and rights; and relational communication.

As an educator, I believe our fully embodied selves matter in the world. We can’t just think our way out of the incredible injustices, dehumanization, and wrongdoing that characterize everyday life. We must feel and act, too. This is where Heart-Head-Hands gets its name.

I bring years of experience as a writer and writing teacher (previously tenured professor in composition, rhetoric, and literacy studies). I have worked in K-12 schools, writing centers, community literacy programs, teaching and learning centers, and writing across the curriculum programs. And I have taught a wide range of courses, including “Writing for Social Justice,” “Contemplative Writing,” “Ethnography of the University,” and “Building Resilience for Racial Justice.”

This work has allowed me to collaborate with people and organizations in and out of higher education, including nonprofits, libraries, church groups, colleges and universities, professional associations, and racial justice coalitions.

Since leaving my faculty position in 2018 (read about my decision in Inside Higher Ed), I’ve focused on public writing and community education through Heart-Head-Hands: Everyday Living for Justice. This work now allows me to work one-with-one with individuals and to offer tailored programs for organizations, including the Graduate Career Consortium, The Damascus Project, and Fayetteville Public Library.

Here Beth Godbee writes on a white board as part of an interactive workshop at the University of Houston.

Previously, I was a faculty member at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I studied composition and rhetoric at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Ph.D.); academic, professional, and technical writing at Georgia State University (M.A.); and education, political science, and women’s studies at Agnes Scott College (B.A. and secondary teaching certification). I now live in Washington, D.C.

As an independent scholar, I continue my research agenda, collaborating frequently with co-author Rasha Diab and making academic publications publicly accessible through SelectedWorks. My academic publications include articles in Research in the Teaching of English, Community Literacy Journal, Feminist Teacher, Pedagogy, College English, Writing Center Journal, and Praxis. My co-authored article “Rhetorical and Pedagogical Interventions for Countering Microaggressions” has been selected for Best of the Journals in Rhetoric and Composition 2021. And my chapter “The Trauma of Graduate Education: Graduate Writers Countering Epistemic Injustice and Reclaiming Epistemic Rights” appears in Learning from the Lived Experiences of Graduate Writers, which won the 2021 International Writing Centers Association (IWCA) Outstanding Book Award. Current research projects focus on countering microaggressions and epistemic injustice.

If you’re interested in learning more, please read about the commitments that guide my work, review my publications, and check out recent blog posts.

If you’d like to connect, reach out with inquiries, and subscribe to my email newsletter.

With gratitude, in lifelong learning and unlearning,

Beth (she/her)

Here Beth is speaking as part of an MUTV interview about undergraduate research.

Professor Beth Godbee speaking on MUTV during research presentations for “Ethnography of the University.”

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About This Site

Embodied knowledge matters. So do commitments. And especially acting on commitments as part of everyday life, BIG and small. This website—a mix of blog posts and research writing, courses and offerings—shares ongoing efforts toward everyday living (feeling, thinking, and doing) for justice.

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Categories

  • Contemplative Practices (57)
  • Emotional Literacies (76)
  • Everyday Feminism (91)
  • Higher Education (45)
  • Interviews (7)
  • Racial Justice (56)
  • Recipes (22)
  • Why Vegan? (11)

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bethgodbee

I’m really excited about @soulsupportlc and hope I’m really excited about @soulsupportlc and hope you’ll check out David (@dgs425)’s coaching support. 💗 See you at the launch?

#Repost @ericdarnellpritchard with @make_repost
・・・
Congratulations, David! 💜😭✨🌻🎉💃🏿💕 Today my beloved announced that he has decided to leave his position as a tenure-track faculty member in order to create more space to serve his purpose as a healer. Doing so, he has formally launched his life coaching practice, @soulsupportlc. I say formally because David has been a life coach to me and many of our kindred for a very long time. I am so glad he has chosen to share his gifts and serve his purpose more widely. Please follow his work at @soulsupportlc AND if your time permits, please register and attend the Soul Support Life Coaching virtual launch on June 30. Link in my bio!
vacation mode = cloud watching [Photo is taken l vacation mode = cloud watching 

[Photo is taken looking up at trees, clouds, and blue sky.]

#learningfromnature #cloudwatching #lookingup #trees #sky
I'm starting some time off for hiking and visiting I'm starting some time off for hiking and visiting family this week. And here's a photo of me at a North Carolina welcome center, high in the Appalachian Mountains, standing before a wall of blooming rhododendrons. I'm tired from all-day driving, but so happy to be deep in the mountains and surrounded by blues, greens, and even pinks! <3

#appalachianmountains #rhodadendron #blueridgemountains #home
Today’s newsletter points in multiple directions Today’s newsletter points in multiple directions, much like this turkey tail mushroom. (I love the striations of copper, cream, and olive green on these curly tails.)
 
Here’s a link to the newsletter on tending to brokenheartedness and burnout: https://mailchi.mp/99bd4ad2e962/burnout --> link in bio, too.
 
And if you aren’t receiving my newsletter but would like to, there’s a link to subscribe at the email’s end (just scroll to the bottom).
 
#LearningFromNature #HeartHeadHands #newsletter #brokenheartedness #burnout #resources
🧡🧡🧡 This touches my heart. Grounding and 🧡🧡🧡 This touches my heart. Grounding and guiding.

#Repost @yallaroza with @make_repost
・・・
The first person to show me the power of bearing witness was Helen, my first year Women and Gender Studies professor. Helen was a fierce feminist whose lectures felt more like prose, poetic and passionate. She made me want to take a hammer to patriarchy, and I loved it. 

With Helen, I felt safe enough to say the things I could barely articulate to myself. To name my wounds, to language hard truths, to let someone else in on my hurt. And with Helen, I felt held in those lived and living realities. There were no therapeutic interventions, no life adages, no solutions. There was simply a human being listening, honouring and affirming my experiences of misogyny, racism and sexual violence.

Years later, I forgot this wisdom. I went through therapeutic training(s) that, over time, left me feeling like that wasn't enough. That listening, and presence, and holding space for hurt wasn't enough. And in many aspects of life, I started to feel like I always needed a brilliant intervention that would offer an "aha moment." 

This week, I was reminded in many ways of the power of being present, of listening, of bearing witness. That you don't always need to have the answers, or offer your critical feminist thinking on a topic. You don't always need to have a solution, or advice. And you don't always need to intellectualize what someone's going through. Sometimes, you can just climb into the emotional fort they've built, grab a pillow, and be there. 

Yup, you can just be there, friend. And that's enough. 

(Consensually*)

♥️✨ Gratitude Tag: tag someone in your life who shows up in meaningful ways.
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About Beth Godbee

I'm an educator and former college professor who believes our fully embodied selves matter in the world. We can’t just think our way out of the incredible injustices, dehumanization, violence, and wrongdoing that characterize everyday life. We must feel and act, too. [Pronouns: she/her.] Read more ...

This image shows books alongside the words: courses, coaching, consulting. learning + unlearning.

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