Porsha Dossie 1898 se 17th St. Homestead, FL 33035 (305) 742-8317 Porsha.Dossie@ucf.edu EDUCATION
MA in History, Public History Track University of Central Florida GPA: 3.778 Bachelor of Arts in History, Honors Distinction University of Central Florida MINOR: Political Science
January 2015-Present Orlando, FL June 2011-2014 Orlando, FL
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Honors in the Major (HIM) o An undergraduate research program through UCF’s Honors College. o Authored thesis examining racist and gendered stereotypes concerning nineteenth-century black women engaged in the commercial sex industry in New Orleans, Louisiana. o Successfully defended the thesis in front of my committee in the summer of 2014.
2013-2014
Student Undergraduate Research Council (SURC) 2013-2014 o Marketing Chair o Promoted research on campus through workshops, classroom visits, and speaking engagements with particular emphasis on visiting high school students. Oviedo History Harvest January-May 2015 o Marketing Chair o Worked with community partners to organize a History Harvest event for the town of Oviedo, Florida. We collected a number of items which were scanned and digitized for the RICHES Mosaic Interface. I primarily helped to market the History Harvest through community events, as well as conducted onsite oral histories on the day of the harvest. RICHES of Central Florida May-August 2015 o Metadata Intern o Curated metadata for the Oviedo History Harvest digital collection. o Designed a digital exhibit for the RICHES Mosaic Interface archive titled “Invisible History: Black Life in Oviedo, Florida.” o https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/exhibits HONORS___________________________________________________________________________________________ 1|Page
Dr. Thomas Greenhaw History Scholarship 2016 o UCF History Department scholarship
UCF College of Graduate Studies Presentation Fellowship o Awarded a fellowship in order to present my research at a national conference.
2015-2016
First Place Outstanding Thesis Award, Arts Humanities and Social Sciences o The Burnett Honors College, Founder’s Day, University of Central Florida
2015
UCF Office of Undergraduate Research Travel Grant Award o Helped to fund my trip to New Orleans for archival research.
2013
Student Undergraduate Research Council Member Grant o Helped to fund my trip to New Orleans for archival research.
2013
Dean’s List o College of Arts and Humanities
2011-2014
Florida Bright Futures Medallion Scholarship o One of three lottery-funded scholarships rewarded Florida high school graduates for high academic achievement of a final GPA of 3.0 or higher. RESEARCH PROJECTS
“Animal-like and Depraved”: Racist Stereotypes, Commercial Sex, and Black Women’s Identity in New Orleans, 1825-1917
Summer 2014
“Invisible History”: Black Life in Oviedo
Summer 2015
“Rendered Invisible”: African American Communities in Jim Crow Florida (Master’s Thesis, tentative title) “Night Women and Obeahmen”: Religion, Death and Social Control in the Colonial Archive (African History Seminar Paper) “Florida in WWI” Podcast
August 2015- Present January-May 2016 January 2016-May 2016
ORAL HISTORY PROJECTS Ida Boston o As part of the Oviedo History Harvest in 2015 I served as the primary oral historian on the day of the harvest. I conducted three sets of interviews. Ida Boston is married to a descendant of Prince Butler Boston who was the most prominent African American in the town of Oviedo at the turn of the 20 th century. o https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/items/show/5296 o http://y2u.be/iUjvhmIEORY Alice Kathryn Aulin Bunch
o Granddaughter of Andrew Aulin, one of Lake Jesup’s leading members. He would go on to name the community “Oviedo.” o http://y2u.be/YuSG0LJyDUs Edwin and Carolyn White o Parents of Lars White, the chief of Oviedo’s Fire Department. They both arrived in Oviedo when it was still very rural. Since then they have seen the town’s exponential growth into a bustling suburban city. o http://y2u.be/vPUPH7_AX9I CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Graduate Research Forum o “Invisible History: Uncovering Early 20th Century African American Life through Metadata” April 2016 o This project examines the importance of metadata in both preserving historical content and making that content accessible through digital repositories where it will be disseminated to a global audience. Once digitized in an open-access format, this material democratizes history, placing the everyday experiences and stories of average individuals in collective public memory for educational use and study. Phi Alpha Theta National Conference January 2016 o I presented the second chapter of my honors thesis. How to Present at a Conference Workshop October 2015 o I was one of three panelists invited by UCF’s Phi Alpha Theta chapter to speak to students about the importance of presenting their research at conferences. The Humanities and Art (THAT Camp) February 2015, February 2016 o Digital mapping tools presentation. o Florida in WWI digital presentation Florida Undergraduate Research Conference o “Animal-Like and Depraved”: Racist Stereotypes, Commercial Sex, and Black Women’s Identity in New Orleans, 1825-1917. o Presented my honors thesis research as a poster presentation.
February 2014
Florida Conference of Historians o Presented the first chapter of my thesis on a panel concerning African-American women’s history.
January 2014
Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence o Poster presentation of my honors thesis research.
April 2014, April 2013
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE Phi Alpha Theta o Historian o Designed and created promotional event material such as fliers, posters, etc.
April 2013-Present
National History Day February 26, 2016 o Judge digital projects at Lake Highland Prep’s National History Day program for 8 th grade American history students. 3|Page
Orange County History Fair March 5, 2016 o I will be judging history related projects by secondary students from all over Orange County, Florida. Parramore History Harvest March 19, 2016 o Part of a team of students from the UCF history department who will help collect and digitize items donated by community members in order to better preserve the area’s collective memory and heritage.