Durene I. Wheeler, Ph.D.

Origins of Wheeler Imagining Possibilities (W.I.P.)

Mission:

WIP seeks to engage educators and organizations in creating equity-minded, inclusive environments where diversity and critical thinking are not only celebrated but also encouraged through practices and policies.  We examine the sociopolitical and historical implications of race and oppressive practices as we provide suggestions on action plans for moving toward inclusion.

Values:

Academic Excellence & Integrity

  • Compassionate Classrooms & Work Spaces

  • Cultural Awareness 

  • Critical Thinking & Critical Communication Skills

  • Liberatory & Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy

Short Biography:    
Durene I. Wheeler (she/her), Ph. D., is a Professor at Northeastern Illinois University in the Department of Educational Inquiry & Curriculum Studies. She holds a Core faculty appointment in African & African American Studies (AFAM) along with Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies (WGSS).  Dr. Wheeler has served as Program Coordinator for the AFAM and WGSS academic programs. 

 

 Additionally, she was appointed the founding Graduate Facilitator and Advisor for the Master of Arts in Community and Teacher Leaders program at NEIU (October 2015-December 2018). Her teaching and research interests include historical intersections of race, class, culture, and gender in U.S. Education, practical application methods of critical race feminism, culturally conscious curriculum and pedagogy, African-centered teaching and learning, and assisting individuals, groups, teachers, parents, and students in fostering more socially justice classrooms and environments.

 As Director of the Angelina Pedroso Center for Diversity & Intercultural Affairs from August 2019 to January 2022, Dr. Wheeler developed and hosted a 7-week Social Justice Institute for NEIU’s faculty and staff in the Desire 2 Learn Instructional Management System. She has presented at several National and Regional conferences on issues of intersectionality, social justice in education, creating critical curriculum and culturally conscious classrooms, anti-racist pedagogy, and praxis. She is co-editor of the anthology Black Women’s Liberatory Pedagogies: Resistance, Transformation, and Healing Within and Beyond the Academy,  addressing the pedagogical practices of Black women in and outside of the academy across multiple disciplines.

 

 Dr. Wheeler received her Master of Arts in Higher Education and Student Affairs with a minor in Counseling Psychology (1996) and her Doctorate in Educational Philosophy (2004) from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Her Bachelor’s degree was obtained from the College of Wooster in Wooster, OH (1989).  She is the proud parent of an Evanston Township High School graduate class of 2022 and identifies as a First-Generation College Student.

Awards:


April 2022

  • Inaugural Recipient of NEIU President’s Inclusive Excellence and Diversity Award – Faculty Award

February 2021

  • Dean Murrell Higgins Duster Legacy Award – Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) Black Heritage Awards

  • African American Educator Award – Second Baptist Church , Evanston, IL

February 2019

  • Faculty Award of Excellence – NEIU Black Heritage Awards

 

Featured Publications:

Book
Perlow, Olivia, Wheeler, Durene, Bethea, Sharon, and Scott, BarBara (Eds.). (2018) Black Women’s Liberatory Pedagogies: Resistance, Transformation, and Healing Within and Beyond the Academy. London: Palgrave MacMillan.


Peer-Reviewed Articles
Wheeler, D. I. (2022). Reframing Our Relationship to Work Trauma.  Journal of Mental Health Social Behavior, 4(1): 156  ONLINE: https://doi.org/10.33790/jmhsb1100156

 

Perlow, Olivia, Bethea, S., Wheeler D. (2014) “Dismantling the Master’s House: Black Women Faculty Challenging White Privilege/Supremacy in the College Classroom.” Resistance to Teaching Anti-Racism, Special Edition for Understanding and Dismantling Privilege. ONLINE  http://www.wpcjournal.com/article/view/12307

Book Chapters:
Wheeler, Durene I., & Nitihirageza, Jeanine (2013). Teach Me About Africa: Facilitating and Training Educators toward a Socially Just Curriculum. In Brandon D. Lundy & Solomon Negash (Eds.), Teaching Africa: A Guide for the 21st Century Classroom (pp. 104-111), Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indian University Press.

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