We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shamika Mitchell, Ph.D. . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shamika below.
Shamika, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
My parents allowed me to be creative and innovative. They didn’t pigeonhole me, and they didn’t impose limitations. As a result, I was able to pursue my passions without hesitation. It was only when I became more established in my academic career that I felt comfortable pivoting to include my passions. Sometimes, academic circles can be restrictive. My parents would say “Don’t limit yourself.”
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
In addition to being an academic, I’m also a comics editor & scholar. I would sometimes find a typo in a comics issue and then self-nominate my editorial services. Working as an editor has given me the opportunity to curate projects. I’m most proud of my project, #SalaamFandom, which aims to center the voices of Muslim creative communities.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I wouldn’t call it a pivot as much as I would an expansion. My academic training is in literature, and I always included some comics, but I didn’t consider myself to be a “comics scholar.” I began publishing academic material that included comics, and I also began doing speaking engagements at comics events. I also updated by bio to spotlight my comics work. So now, in addition to traditional literature (poetry, prose, drama), comics are included in my bio. Comics Studies might not be an option in some graduate programmes, but even if you can’t do it for a thesis or dissertation, you can still do it in your teaching and publishing. It made a significant difference in my visibility and accessibility to others.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
Regine L. Sawyer has been a colleague and mentor. We met in 2011 at NY Comic Con, and I’ve been a supporter of Women in Comics Collective International (WinC) ever since. The booth and banner were very cute, and I was walking the show floor. I used to think that comics conventions were either for comic book collectors or cosplayers — and I am neither of those. I always would see the advertisements and decided to try going just to see what it was about. I’m so glad I went! I had no idea it was also for educators and other fandoms. After joining WinC, I’ve made new friends and have participated in other comics programmes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B085RNHV87
- Instagram: MutantXFactor
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drsamitchell
- Twitter: MutantXFactor
