With the development of increasingly advanced technologies, interactions with and via these technologies have become even more central to human activity. Technology is utilized in both sanctioned and unsanctioned ways within language and literacy classrooms around the world making questions, concerns, and curiosities around educational potentials…

William Allen High School (WAHS) was once a pillar of success. From a growing student body to a successful vocational wing, the high school was the epicenter of the district and the city for over a century. Today, however, WAHS evokes a different image. Between 1960 and 2020, WAHS evolved from a predominately White and high-achieving institution,…

The purpose of this study was to examine trends in participating schools represented in the Alabama High School All-State Band (AHSASB) from 1986 to 2019. An online library of concert programs (N = 31) was used to catalog all-state participants (N = 15,426), their schools, and membership years. These were combined with information from the Common…

This qualitative study used an interpretative phenomenological analysis framework (Smith et al., 2012) to explore the ways in which U.S. public university chancellors and presidents experience campus free speech and safe space. Six public university leaders with campus free speech and safe space experience participated in semi-structured…

This qualitative phenomenological case study examines the experiences of some Black college students in historically White institutions (HWIs) in Louisville, Kentucky during nationally publicized incidents of police violence that occurred in 2020. The study intends to identify the academic, emotional, and social experiences that impacted…

This project seeks to chronicle the history of Hindu students at American colleges and universities. When did these students, identified as Hindu, begin to appear on campuses? How did they navigate their faith identities while in this context? How did they see themselves and how were they perceived by others? What was their relationship with…

This dissertation argues that indigenous language revitalization and reclamation projects are best understood as multigenerational and multi-participant conversations, which I will frame as language conversations. Language revitalization and reclamation relies on relationships, access, and accountability within indigenous frameworks. This model of…

In this qualitative exploratory study, I examine the influence of administrative curricular decision-makers' beliefs and values towards race and ethnicity, heritage, and place on curricular aims for the inclusion of local difficult history associated with the erasure of a racialized cultural landscape, The Ridgewood Cemetery. I additionally…

In the three papers that form this dissertation, I inquire about the future of learning (Ross, 2023) through a "postdigital" stance (Jandric, 2017) that I apply to place-based education (PBE) methods and practices (Sobel, 2005; Greenwood, 2008). I argue that a postdigital approach -- one that presupposes technology is "part" of…

This arts-based dissertation explores the stories and silences of the Winston branch of my family in order to consider how families reproduce ideologies, with the focus of this study being white supremacy and to lesser extents capitalism and patriarchy. In social studies education, is one way not only to learn about each of us, but to demystify…

This leadership portrait using qualitative methods exposes one female superintendent's perception of practices and characteristics that led to her 23-year tenure in one district, exceeding the national average of 3.5 years. Leadership qualities and practices are explored and compared related to student success and superintendent responsibilities.…

This co-authored qualitative case study explores the problem of teachers connecting with their students especially at the middle school level. While research has established the need for teachers to better understand the background experiences of their students, more research is needed to explore the value of place-based professional development…

The history of Indianapolis' Near Westside, its residents, and the Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus, demonstrates how disenfranchisement, economic injustice, and spatial injustice intricately intertwine higher education institutions and residential communities. Where homes once stood, now stand institutions of…

This co-authored qualitative case study explores the challenge of teachers connecting with their students at the middle school level, especially when White teachers serve predominantly African-American students in large urban metropolitan areas like St. Louis, Missouri. While research has established the need for teachers to better understand the…

On a daily basis I am bombarded with images in every walk of life. I encounter images crossing my path constantly through media such as the internet, television, magazines, radio, social media, even in the grocery store line on screens intended to capture our attention. As I drive down the roadways, I am invaded by images that at times can be…