Anthony Kwame Harrison named Alumni Distinguished Professor
Harrison, who came to Virginia Tech in 2003, is most known for his support of students and creating community wherever he is.
On the first day of class, Anthony Kwame Harrison divulges a personal fact about himself to his students — he has a stutter.
Typically, it is not noticeable when he first meets people. But over time, he said his life-long stutter becomes more evident.
“If it’s a lecture class, there will be a day or two when I don’t talk that well,” said Harrison, the Edward S. Diggs Professor of Humanities at Virginia Tech.
There’s a reason that he lets his students in on his personal impediment. He wants to remind them that he’s not perfect.
It’s clear that Harrison’s extraordinary success in the classroom is marked by much more than what he has accomplished. It’s found in how he makes his students feel.
“I respect students,” said Harrison, professor in the Department of Sociology with a half-time appointment in Africana studies. “I don’t think I have all of the answers. I learn from them. Sometimes it’s encouraging them to ask questions that I don’t know the answers to because that will push me to find the answers.”
In April, the Board of Visitors appointed Harrison an Alumni Distinguished Professor. The honor is given to faculty who demonstrate extraordinary accomplishments and academic work across teaching, research or creative activity, and engagement. Receiving the 10-year appointment alongside Harrison this year were Raman Kumar, the R.V. and A.F. Oliver Professor of Investment Management in the Pamplin College of Business, and Patricia Raun, professor of theater arts at the School of Performing Arts in the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design.
In 2003, Harrison, who was born in Ghana and grew up in Massachusetts, came to Virginia Tech through a minority fellowship to complete his dissertation about hip-hop music. He never left.
Throughout his journey as a Hokie, Harrison has made his mark in an array of areas, from well-known research to teaching, mentoring students and faculty, and supporting the university’s initiatives. He is known for his research in hip-hop music, race, and social space. He has written books and co-edited chapters and articles. He has received numerous university teaching awards, and in 2019, he was a visiting professor at the University Paris Dauphine.
Of his more unique courses is a class that he teaches each year about the sociology of skiing at Virginia Tech’s Steger Center for International Scholarship in Switzerland. In the class, students examine how race and identity are represented in skiing, which has a traditionally white participant base.
“He opens the door for students to new ways of thinking and for understanding the complexity of the modern world,” wrote Jennifer Johnson, chair of the Department of Sociology, in her nomination for Harrison for the award. “His teaching is transformative both in terms of the curriculum and in terms of the student experience.”
The class represents Harrison’s research philosophy and goals in his scholarship. He said he is passionate about exploring “race and identity in places where you don’t necessarily think about it.”
“I'm thinking about inequality and not trying to see people in communities as problems to be fixed, but to celebrate the contributions of difference,” said Harrison, who became a board member for the Race in Marketplace Network several years ago. The network includes academics from around the world who study how race is used in marketing.
Still, Harrison is most known for his support of Virginia Tech students and creating community wherever he is. His courses draw a mix of Hokies studying all disciplines, and by the end of a semester, the classes become mini communities. That’s what happened in the fall when a student in his Black Aesthetics class started baking desserts to share with classmates.
That’s not all. Harrison is a mentor for new faculty who come to Virginia Tech. He’s also a faculty ambassador for the football team’s prospective recruits and their families.
Surprisingly, after more than 20 years of teaching and many accolades for his work, Harrison said he gets nervous before he teaches a class.
“It means that I want to be prepared,” he said. “I don’t want to waste my students’ time.”
