Dr. Leslie Clement has been selected to participate in the 2026 UNCF/Mellon International Faculty Seminar in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from May 18- May 26. Her project, “Mapping AfroEmiratis and Other Black Communities: Histories, Cultures, Migrations, and Intersectional Identities Surrounding the Arabian Peninsula in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” expands the scope of African Diaspora Studies at Johnson C. Smith University by broadening student engagement beyond Atlantic centered narratives to include more than a millennium of African presence in Arabia and the wider Indian Ocean world.

THE 2024-2025 CATO PAR EXCELLENCE TEACHER AT JOHSNON C. SMITH UNIVERSITY

Grateful to Grace the Cover of UNCF/Mellon Faculty Career Enhancement Magazine

During my Inaugural Honors Convocation Speech (4/30/24), I charged the HONORS Scholars to Be HONOR-ABLE & to Live HONOR-ABLY by: 1-Honoring God, 2- Honoring Themselves, 3-Honoring their Loved Ones 4-Honoring the Legacy of their HBCU and by 5-Honoring the Leadership, Faculty, Staff and peers at JCSU.

 2024: As the JCSU University Honors Program (UHP) Director, I gave the Keynote speech at the Honors Convocation on 4/30, the same day that my great-grandfather, Arthur John Howard Clement, Sr., who graduated from Biddle University (now JCSU) transitioned, 68 years ago (1956).

2024-26: National Humanities Center (NHC) Responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) Grant Recipients! Johnson C. Smith University and North Carolina Central University faculty will co-construct and co-teach “AI and the African Diaspora” across two HBCUs.

2023: Grateful for the opportunity to experience this intellectually inspirational space with scholars from across the nation at the  National Humanities Center.

I was selected as a 2022 CTI Seminar Leader! This offered me the opportunity to collaborate with CMS Teachers to explore how we can collectively work together to make teaching (curricula) more culturally responsive & build equity mindsets among students and staff.

My 2022 Seminar: “Charlotte As Teaching Canvas: Creating Culturally Responsive Classrooms and Equity Mindsets by Engaging in Local Diasporic Spaces.” My 2022 Charlotte Teachers Institute (CTI) Seminar Video Introduction 

 

I am honored to have been be selected as the  2020-2021 Par Excellence Teacher award recipient at Johnson C. Smith University!!!!

AWARDS

I am excited to have been selected to serve on the Charlotte Mecklenburg School Board Inaugural 2020 Community Equity Committee (2-year appointment) 

Sit Lux Award Recipient (2016-2017) Johnson C. Smith University

• 2011-2012: Recipient, UNCF/Mellon Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. Award: $35,000.