He took time to talk with UofL News about recent career accomplishments, Black Studies and Black 成人直播al Theory as areas of research, as well as the interdisciplinary nature of his work.

UofL News: It seems your career has expanded over the past year, including tenure, a dual-appointment, high productivity in publications 鈥� what is the force behind this success?

Washington: The dual-appointment with Pan-African Studies has allowed me to revisit both my academic work and the person I was when I entered my doctoral program. So, I tell a lot of folks that this dual appointment is really me being my most honest and congruent professional self. I went into my doctoral program deeply immersed in Black psychology and Black educational practice literature. I felt alienated because it sometimes seemed there wasn鈥檛 anyone in my department that tapped into that work and made the connection back to counseling. It feels rejuvenating to be back to where I started thinking about these issues whether they be counseling or education through the lens of Black peoples鈥� experiences. That鈥檚 what I am most excited about.

UofL News: Hip-hop doesn鈥檛 always seem like the most common area of research. Talk a bit about that passion and translating it into your academic work.

Washington: I went into my doctoral program already in love and infatuated with hip-hop studies and hip-hop culture. It never occurred to me during my matriculation that it could be an area of research. For me, part of being the researcher and academic I am today is an effort to ultimately develop a presence in counselor education that lives and breathes hip-hop and recognizes its inherent therapeutic value.

In terms of translating this work to practice 鈥� I knew hip-hop was therapeutic from the moment that I met it. It鈥檚 an epiphany to white school educators 鈥� like 鈥榳ow, hip-hop is amazing and can be therapeutic.鈥� My question is, when has Black cultural production not been therapeutic? The frustrating part of this is having to convince folks of hip-hop as a discipline. The things that Black and Brown folks have been saying for ages is meaningful to their existence 鈥� we are just coming around to treating it as a discipline? It can be frustrating. I鈥檓 not doing anything innovative, this work has been going on since the 80s. But it is still difficult to find an accredited program with references to hip-hop culture.

UofL News: While the dual appointment is relatively new, how has it informed your work in the College of 成人直播 and Human Development and vice versa? How has it informed your teaching?

Washington: Pan-African Studies has so many ethical responses to the questions that are assumed to be asked in other disciplines. Critical race theory 鈥� the conversation that folks in education seem to have only just now showed up to 鈥� constitutes the core of what Black studies has been since its inception.

Take the Socratic method, for example. It is inherently problematic to associate the ability to do this pedagogical intervention to a man named Socrates, when there were folks doing it before he even existed. You can鈥檛 talk about the Socratic method and say you don鈥檛 engage in forms of white supremacy. So, this field is about creating basic and foundational courses that raise consciousness. There are things we do as teachers that we proclaim we would not do, but we do them because they are woven into the way we are taught to be teachers.

UofL News: Talk a bit about your work in schools throughout Jefferson County.

Washington: Most of my work has occurred at Central High School and the Academy at Shawnee. At Central, my work is with the Muhammad Ali Institute and the Muhammad Ali Scholars program. That program seeks to create a pipeline to our undergraduate programs.

I also co-developed and co-taught a course there called Hip-Hop Culture in American History. That was a rigorous and intense elective course. They were working through the same textbook that we would use for college students, and the course was the last period of the day. We had students signing up for that class even after the semester had begun. So, in terms of evidence of investment and engagement, that is meaningful.聽

UofL News: How do you see that developing in the future?

Washington: I have never relinquished the aspiration and the desire to contribute to the creation of a school counseling program that has hip-hop culture and pop culture as a core foundational ingredient. I think that鈥檚 meaningful and important, and it doesn鈥檛 exist in school counseling. There are programs and certificates that are related to hip-hop studies that show promise, so there are examples to prove that it鈥檚 viable.

UofL News: What makes the work we do at UofL distinct or unique from other schools across the country?

Washington: UofL鈥檚 Department of Pan-African Studies is one of the first in the region and the only degree-granting department in Kentucky. That鈥檚 impactful. Thinking about that and the possibility of contributing to that revitalization and history is something that makes our work unique.

Washington recently published a co-authored chapter in the book by Cheryl Holcomb McCoy, released November 2021. His chapter entitled, 鈥淒ecolonizing the Counseling Canon鈥� was written alongside Janice A. Byrd, Pennsylvania State University and Joseph M. Williams, University of Virginia.聽

Yum! Brands is providing $3.5 million in funding for the center as part of company鈥檚 global Unlocking Opportunity Initiative, in which it committed $100 million over five years to promote equity and inclusion, education and entrepreneurship for employees, frontline restaurant teams and communities around the world.

鈥淲e believe that combining the resources and expertise of the University of Louisville with Yum! Brands will create an unrivaled resource for world-class training in franchising that will help people everywhere, particularly underrepresented people of color and women, succeed in franchise ownership and management,鈥� said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. 鈥淲e鈥檙e excited about the new center as it aligns with UofL鈥檚 commitment to empower our communities and supports our vision to become the nation鈥檚 premier anti-racist metropolitan research university.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e proud to partner with the University of Louisville on developing a sustainable, globally scalable program that democratizes exposure to and builds knowledge of the franchising industry for all,鈥� said Scott Catlett, chief legal and franchise officer at Yum! Brands. 鈥淥ur hope is the center will carve a path to economic opportunity and successful ownership for talented, underrepresented people while bringing diverse voices and ideas to the broader franchising community.鈥�

The builds on UofL鈥檚 existing franchising education programs in the College of Business, which include a graduate certificate and an executive-level Franchise Management Certificate, along with an undergraduate franchising track within the Bachelor of Business Administration program that launched in the Spring 2021 semester.

The center鈥檚 curriculum development is led by franchising industry alumni and business experts at UofL, with subject matter experts at Yum! Brands providing resources, up-to-date information and powerful industry insights on the state of franchising.

In addition, to improve equity for underrepresented people of color and women, the center will:

• Actively recruit diverse students to its undergraduate, graduate and executive-level programs offered through the College of Business
• Conduct research to develop new knowledge surrounding franchise ownership, including case studies, white papers and other work to better understand the reasons for lower ownership by underrepresented people of color and women
• Create regular podcasts and a practitioner-focused journal to share franchising education and news with franchise owners and managers.

鈥淔ranchising is one of the best paths to entrepreneurship, creating an opportunity to build generational wealth,鈥� said Kathleen Gosser, executive-in-residence in the , where the center will be based. 鈥淔ranchise ownership among underrepresented people of color and women is lower than their representation in the population. Our goal is to uncover and reduce barriers to franchise ownership, starting with education.鈥�

The franchising model is strong in the U.S. and globally and makes business ownership accessible to many individuals. By the end of 2021, the projects the franchising industry will increase to more than 780,000 outlets employing 8.2 million people in the U.S. alone.

鈥淧artnering with UofL on the Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence allows Yum! Brands to amplify our world-class franchising model and give more people access to the franchising world and the ability to create generational wealth and a legacy,鈥� said Wanda Williams, head of Yum! Global Franchising. 鈥淎ccess to the program will also be a wonderful opportunity for new franchisees entering the Yum! Brands system as well as for employees who want to become business owners.鈥�

In addition to Yum! Brands鈥� recent grant to UofL, the company also is investing $6 million over five years to advance equity and opportunity across Louisville, particularly in West Louisville, including uplifting Black students, educators, entrepreneurs and social change agents. As part of this, Yum! Brands is working with Nat Irvin, assistant dean in the UofL College of Business, on the university鈥檚 Pathways program to help predominantly Pell Grant-eligible high school students at key public schools in Louisville earn college credits from and early admission to UofL.

Yum! Brands, based in Louisville, has over 50,000 restaurants in more than 150 countries and territories and more than 2,000 franchisees around the world. The company’s brands include KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and The Habit Burger Grill.聽