Biography
Professor Frankie Condon was born in Michigan and grew up in Western Pennsylvania. As a young adult, she was interested in an acting career which prompted her to apply to York University Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance. After completing her undergraduate degree, Professor Condon moved back to the United States and pursued her acting career in theater for 10 years. After performing across the East Coast and with the Suzuki Company of Toga in Japan, Condon decided to pursue her interest in writing. She completed her MA in English at Clarion University of Pennsylvania and PhD at the University of Albany. Professor Condon held tenured posts at Saint Cloud State University in Minnesota and at the University of Nebraska Lincoln before starting her job as a Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo.
Growing up in rural western Pennsylvania as a member of a multicultural family, Professor Condon has written that she has never known a moment in which she was not aware of racism, white supremacy, and the harm they inflict on individuals, families, and communities. Condon has been an anti-racist activist and organizer throughout her career: in the theatre, during her graduate education, and a scholar, teacher, and writer. As a graduate student, Professor Condon began to think and write about institutional and systemic racism as they manifested in higher education, broadly, and in the classroom (and writing centre), in particular – paying attention to anti racist pedagogy. Dr Condon notes that early on in her graduate career she realized that her commitment to anti racism could not be severed from her research, teaching, and writing any more than it could be from her lived experience. She tries to carry this commitment forward in both her personal and professional lives.
Research and Writing
A question that Professor Condon is always interested in is how people are persuaded to think and act in particular ways with regard to racial identity, racism, and white supremacy. In other words, Frankie in interested in how people think the way they do about race and racism and how they learn to act and talk the way they do. Professor Condon is currently working on two new books, one describes the history of the metaphor of colorblindness for racial justice, and the other book talks about anti-racist pedagogy. Condon also has a book coming out in the fall about which is an edited collection about anti-racism and the work of writing centers.
Aplty Outspoken!
The Aplty Outspoken is a collective committed to anti-racist education, pedagogy, and activism aimed at addressing and dismantling ongoing racism and white supremacy in Canada and the United States. Members of Aplty Outspoken are committed to using writing and communication as a tool to intervene into the oppressive treatment of black people. Professor Condon joined this collective in the past year and frequently moderates webcasts that are held through the website.
Advice
Professor Condon encourages students to give themselves permission to be curious and to be filled with wonder about all the things you can learn. Go wild and learn about subjects you never would have thought to learn about such as The History of Rock and Roll, The Discourse of Dissent, or Harry Potter and most importantly have fun!
