The Booce Teaches Podcast

Season 2 continues with another of Dr. Tanya Boucicaut’s forever students, Nylan Ntabazi, a clinical researcher, scientist, and newly minted entrepreneur who offers insight into the ways science and creativity impact her life and the lives of others. She shares her leadership journey from high school to her current career as a brand ambassador, while also giving us a window into why community and...

Season 2 opens with podcast host, one of Dr. Tanya Boucicaut's forever students, Tyshaun Brewer, a college senior, who shares how Norfolk State shaped his voice and why civic engagement, social justice, and community. Tanya and Tyshaun revisit his experience in the Courage Summer Program (youth summer theater program) and explore how mentorship and artistic expression shaped Tyshaun’s path from pe...

This episode concludes this almost four-year journey to recording and editing the first season of the Booce Teaches Podcast. We end this season with wonder. Kait Boss, current development consultant, content strategist, and creative producer, shares her journey to the role at the time of timing in 2021 as the Director of Children’s Television. She shares her early love for English and the arts as...

Recovery is a process. Tom Bannard almost immediately opens this conversation with his journey through recovery. He offers a blunt and candid view into his life as a student and later the Rams in Recovery Coordinator. He shares the impact of having too much time on one’s hands as a college student. He then chronicles how, with support, he has been able to redirect his life and support others in th...

In this faith-inspiring episode, especially for theological students, Chaplain Paula Watson reflects on her Houstonian journey as a student, mother, teacher, minister, and children’s hospital chaplain. With an open book perspective, she shares the important moments in her life and the mentors who have guided her along the way. Chaplain Watson reveals how her personal experiences enable her to supp...

This is another theology-inspired conversation, especially for theological students, with Pastor, counselor, and soon-to-be Dr. Lucretia Mason Underdue. Pastor Mason Underdue invites us into her journey as a counselor, beginning as a teenager by being a listening ear and offering advice to her friends and loved ones. Not only does she share her complicated college story, but she also offers advice...

This is yet another inspiring conversation, especially for theological students, with Pastor Lisa Janes, who is a painter, printmaker, librarian, and pastor. Pastor Janes reflects on the significant role her ancestors played in shaping her identity. Her academic and personal journey began in a nature-filled environment. She shares her passion for all things artistic, as well as the faith journey t...

This episode is about a faith-filled journey, especially for theological students, to accountability and responsibility through discovery, discipline, and openness. Chef Amory James, Director of the Community Kitchen and Meals on Wheels at Feed More, shares this culinary journey that began as an alternative to the family business, funeral service. Generously, he offers a blueprint for others to fo...

This is a transparent episode with Dr. Erin Burke Brown, Director of Professional Development for the Graduate School at Virginia Commonwealth University. She shares her academic journey through private school education and how she navigated that space, led by her mother’s mantra, “Education is the way out.” In this conversation, there is a confrontation or even a peeling back of Black middle-clas...

In this illuminating episode, Dr. Corey D.B. Walker, Dean of Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Wake Forest Professor of the Humanities, and Director of the Program in African American Studies, takes us through his academic and life journey from Norfolk, VA, to North Carolina. This conversation includes topics on the fullness of Black community life, the importance of family and love, and...

In this touching and humorous episode, Dr. Kimberly Payne, Organizational Development Manager at Old Dominion University, discusses her journey as a student, from her time at Norfolk State University trying to fit in and navigate life as an undergraduate student while coping with personal losses (trigger warning), to her professional experiences in radio and television production. She shares how m...

In this episode, Dr. Vernon Hurte, now the Senior Vice President for Student Affairs and University Life at Towson University, shares insights into his journey as an inclusive-centered higher education administrator. He provides his academic and career journey as a testament that we can all blossom and grow where we are planted. Dr. Hurte particularly talks about why he chose Bowie State over More...

In this episode, Dr. Noreen Barnes, a retired Theatre Graduate Program Director and Professor Emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University, shares her journey of falling in love with theatre as a high school student. She also discusses the impact of her teachers and professors on her academic and professional development. Our conversation reflects on our shared love for all things theatre, creativ...

This episode, taped during the holiday season, has an air of hope permeates the conversation. In this episode, Reverends Megan DeWald, Director of the Institute for Youth Ministry (IYM), and Abigail Rusert, Associate Dean for Continuing Education, both at Princeton Theological Seminary, offer a breath of fresh air as they share the complexities that life brings as we navigate who we are becoming....

In this episode, Professor Omiyẹmi Green brings her grounded spirit to this conversation. She reflects on her secondary and college journey as a focused and inquisitive student. She offers life-changing wisdom about self-and-purpose discovery that will remind listeners of their inner knowing. She brings flesh to the bones of curiosity through her teaching, scholarship, and artistry.  Through this...

In this episode, we hear from Mrs. Lisa Hope, a proposal manager and federal contractor, who shares her journey as a non-traditional student in her 30s, who already has a family. Lisa credits her peaceful home life as a space where she could flourish and thrive as a graduate student, wife, mother, and human being. She breezed through her undergraduate studies but yearned for a more fulfilling grad...

In this episode, we delve into the impact that high school guidance counselors can have on the dreams and aspirations of their students. Our host is joined by Andrew Blackmore, who is not only a high school guidance counselor but also a former AVID counselor! Blackmore shares his personal journey and how he learned to let go of his ego, which changed the trajectory of his life. He also talks about...

In this episode, Dr. Nathaniel West, Director of the Master of Arts in Christian Education, the Director of Formation and Counseling, and an Assistant Professor of Christian Education at the Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University, and the host's self-proclaimed life coach. The conversation opens with Dr. West’s declaration, that at age 17, he knew he was going to be...

In this episode, we hear from Dr. Paula Johnson, the principal of Landstown High School in Virginia Beach, which happens to be the host's alma mater. Dr. Johnson's passion for math and education began at a young age, leading her to become a tutor for the Upward Bound program. She shares her savvy strategy for landing her first teaching position with the help of Virginia State University's Career S...

In this episode, renowned Broadway artist/actor, director, and professor Dr. Tawyna "Dr. T" Pettiford-Wates opens the conversation with a powerful secondary school story that demonstrates her curious commitment to the inquiry process of life along with the unwavering support of her parents. She describes her purpose work as a bridge builder to connect peoples, groups, and perspectives that would n...

In this episode, the effectual truth seeker and teller, Dr. Bassard, shares sobering honesty about her journey from the mountaintop of academic high school achievements to the culture shock of undergraduate life in a state other than her home. But even that experience had respite bright spots. She delves into her professional experience as what she describes as "an accidental scholar," from a grad...

In this episode, the unwavering dreamer, Rev. Dr. Kinney, shares an introspective look and bird's eye view into his educational journey as he shares lessons from elementary school through undergraduate school to graduate schools. He delves into his professional experience from a tutor to a lecturer to a professor to the Dean of the School of Theology at Virginia Union University. Our conversation...

Welcome to the official overview of the Booce Teaches Podcast! Learn about the podcast's guests, episode structure, and impetus for creation!