Doctor of Philosophy
English Composition and Applied Linguistics
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Master of Arts
English and African American Literature
North Carolina A&T State University
Bachelor of Arts
English
Winston-Salem State University
Before coming to AACC, Darius Cureton had only worked at traditional four-year colleges and universities. He was familiar with community college students through the transfer partnerships his schools had with community colleges but had never worked with them directly. Now, as an English professor and Transfer Studies faculty mentor, he helps prepare AACC students to transfer to a four-year school.
“Coming to AACC gave me an opportunity to impart my knowledge and wisdom (what they will get when and if they transfer to a four-year institution) to these students so that they will be further prepared for the rigors that await them,” he said. “I don't believe in giving AACC students watered down versions of what they will experience. I set the bar at that four-year institution level and the students have been meeting those expectations/benchmarks.”
Cureton said he is inspired by his students’ “curiosity and willingness to unlearn things they have been taught all their lives in favor of more collegiate-level thinking and working.”
In addition to his teaching and transfer mentoring responsibilities, he also works with the Black Male Institute, which helps Black male students build community and find support services and resources at AACC.
As if that wasn’t enough to keep him busy, Cureton researches the aversion to classroom technology by first-year writing faculty at historically Black colleges and universities. He has served on numerous committees and presented at several conferences across the country.
