I have developed a Feminist-Humanities model for social justice education that demonstrates pedagogical potency for building students' capacity for transformative social change. This dissertation presents the model, describes its theoretical framework, assesses its impact on student learning, and considers what the findings can offer to social…

The study used an arts-informed narrative inquiry design to better understand the perspectives and experiences of a former K-12 public school student (Haley) with a 504 plan and an emotional disability when navigating structures of authority in schools, in order to uncover factors that may facilitate or prevent stigmatization toward the population…

What does it take to create an educational environment committed to social change? What is the role of the teacher in this process? The researcher? Education offers a radical hope of learning for freedom over conformity. Still, this form of liberatory education can only occur through consistent reflexivity that critically examines systems of…

The United States continues to become increasingly more diverse, demanding civic engagement that extends beyond personal responsibility such as obeying laws and voting and requiring a citizenry capable of disrupting the status quo and enacting social change that contributes to a more equitable and just society. Education plays a vital role in this…

This is an ethnographic study with the purpose of spotlighting factors related to K-12 education in Lebanon that tend to reduce or exacerbate sources of sectarian conflict. The following research questions guided my research: (1) How do education stakeholders operationalize equal access, social inclusion, and social contract through education? (2)…

With the rise of modern technology, sites of knowledge have shifted from page to screen, offering hybrid spaces for 21st century learning across borders, modalities, semiotic resources, time and space (Jewitt, 2006; Kress, 2000) However, few empirical studies have been conducted from a critical lens to investigate how digitally mediated social…

Social policies that criminalize students can create a school environment that pushes immigrant students out of school and into immigration enforcement agencies' crosshairs. The school-to-prison pipeline is a well-documented phenomenon rooted in institutional racism and affects marginalized immigrant groups uniquely. The study aims to dissect the…

This qualitative study utilizes a Chicana/Latina feminist lens and the Latin American tradition of "Testimonio" to explore Spanish-speaking immigrants' experiences of migration, language learning and socialization, paying close attention to the ways in which the multilayered intersections of identity, race, class, gender, nationality,…

A front-seat view allows the observer to see (a) the continual growth of the Hispanic population in the United States, (b) an increase in the number of Hispanic churches, and a (c) Latin@ community with significant buying power that also leaves its mark in the entertainment and sports industries. The view from the back is seldom beheld, but it…

The current state of education focusing on standards and assessment, according to Wu (2004), reduces education to "technical problems and individual deficiencies, subject to surveillance and quality managerial procedures" (p. 308). This work uses Foucault's discourses of discipline and power to understand standardization as a political…

Domestic workers have played an essential role in the history of South Africa; and yet, current research neither explores the educational experiences of these women nor examines the ways in which national discourses surrounding English language learning influence their educational motivations. This dissertation aims to ameliorate this dearth of…

Power relationships are a central premise in children's literature, especially traditional fairy tales and modern feminist fairy tales. This is seen in many fairy tales where the main female character is in some distress, her Prince Charming rescues her, and they live happily ever after. Modern feminist fairy tales are understood to be a forum…

Efforts to globalize higher education have resulted in study abroad climbing to an all-time high in the United States. Amidst this growth, emergent bodies of literature have uncovered problematic trends in study abroad that reproduce hierarchies of power and colonialism, perpetuate views of an exotic cultural "other," and privilege…

I examine the formation of power as it relates to canonicity through online delivery systems, Amazon and Goodreads, and the academic sector in the contemporary period. The digital age has radically changed literature by providing for a textuality of literature that is multi-channeled, and this project responds by engaging new critical lenses for…

This dissertation is a qualitative practitioner research study in which I explore how my students and I engage in critical literacy using sociopolitical Articles of the Week (AoWs). Critical literacy is the ability to read, write, and speak about texts in a reflective manner to better understand power, inequality, and injustice that prevails in…