What follows is a slightly revised version of a story that Ted Estess read at the ceremony honoring his retirement after thirty-one years from the position of Dean of the Honors College at the University of Houston. The story, as he explained to those assembled, was written some years ago in Colorado, where he spent time most summers with his…

Academia has been dominated by European/settler ways of knowing while denying the existence and validity of Indigenous epistemologies, science, and philosophies. Post-secondary structures were not built to be inclusive spaces, they were built without Indigenous voices or considerations and often housed individuals and departments who have…

The present study provides partial findings from research currently underway at the University of Seville: "Hurdles & Help as Perceived by University Students Disabilities". (Directed by Dr. Anabel Moriña, project funding: MICINN, I+D+I, ref. EDU 2010-16264). How does the university, as an institution, open doors and/or put hurdles…

This paper presents an analysis of how lecturers respond to students with disabilities, the initial question being: do lecturers aid or hinder students? Findings pertain to a broader research project employing a non-usual research methodology in higher education research and students with disabilities: the biographical-narrative methodology. The…

This paper provides an analysis of the intersection between education and immigration policies within a transnational context and explores the extent to which U.S. immigration law has caused a forced return migration to Mexico of the U.S. DREAMer population. My analysis includes a discussion of the social conditions and lack of policies in Mexico…

This paper focuses on two main guiding questions: first, what are the experiences of Turkish women in the German educational system; second, to what extent do state policies, cultural pressure, and personal choice influence the decision to pursue higher education? Using intersectionality as a methodology, this paper elucidates how women navigate…

Beginning in March 2012, my public scholarship with deported and returning young adults originated from an ethnographic and oral history framework based upon participant research action methodology (Seidman 2006). In collaboration with the Asamblea Popular de Familias Migrantes (APOFAM), I began to meet with groups of returning and deported young…

Presented in this address by the recipient of the American Sociological Association's award for contribution to undergraduate education are reflections on teaching and a personal biography. Social relationships in academe are also discussed. (Author/RM)

An educator, an "old timer" in sociology but new in the field of communication, sees her work as a "calling," a "mission." She wants the audience to feel the emotion of autoethnography. To bring research to life, she chooses three autoethnographic vignettes to show scenes in which a different kind of stigma is felt:…

Beginning with the story of a student's essay on her grandfather's death, this paper considers how paradox plays out in the writing classroom. The paper then suggests how what is called "ordinary writing" elucidates how writers make texts, providing students with the tools necessary to see how all writing, including their own, is made.…

This study examined the process followed by graduate students in the formation of research problems for their dissertations. Narratives were solicited from researchers who received Spencer Awards for their dissertation research, and researchers received 30 narratives that described the process of research problem formation. The grounded theory…

A dialogue between two writing collaborators reveals the act of collaboration as "empowering, liberating, exhilarating, and almost magical." Community-oriented theories of empowerment suggest collaboration can also be about reclaiming political and personal determinacy because working in pairs or groups can enable writers to encourage…

This paper analyzes the process of tenure using various conceptions of narrative as the interpretive lens for considering the meaning of achieving tenure. It first examines tenure as narrative performance, noting when, where, and in what context tenure is discussed. The paper then looks at tenure through Donald Polkinghorne's (1988) analytical…

An autobiography class at Elizabethtown College (Pennsylvania) used one of its four technique paper assignments to focus on the exploratory essay, since the concept of exploration, simply for the sake of questioning, probing, and testing, has both validity and purpose in a class or assignment focusing on autobiography. First the class brainstormed…

Original stories can provide a wealth of opportunity for forensics competitors. Original storytelling requires the sharing of a personal experience or family narrative that is adaptable to audiences differing in age and education. Community organizations and groups are invited to participate as audience members and vary from round to round.…