One of the growing phenomena of our digital age is the proliferation of digital fan spaces (Gee, 2018). Dedicated to a specific fandom or activity, these spaces have allowed participants to play competitively, share videos with each other, create fanfiction, provide feedback to one another and engage in a host of literacies around something they…

Drawing from Foucauldian discourse analysis and narrative inquiry, this poststructural Foucauldian-informed thematic discourse analysis explored the ways bisexual+ emerging adults used fiction-based parasocial relationships during identity construction processes. Through interviews and journal reflections, five bisexual+ emerging adults were…

This qualitative study aimed to explore the influence of Hip-Hop on the perceptions about resilience and cultural capital among BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) male students who attend a community-based organization. The study included 20 BIPOC male participants who consider Hip-Hop as being an active part of their lifestyle. All…

The purpose of this qualitative study is to better understand how children identify with superheroes to allow counselors to have a basis of understanding to inform their use of superheroes in therapeutic settings. The research questions are: (1) How do children ages 3-6 identify with their favorite superhero? and (2) how is children's self-concept…

This study sought to explore the impact of what has been identified as hip hop pedagogy, and how selective songs from the musical genre may motivate student achievement. This research also explored the willingness of educators at multiple levels to incorporate this form of pedagogy. The research made use of the hip hop genre, using specific song…

Black males in higher education continue to face persistent challenges due to overt and covert racism, hindering their progress towards graduation, particularly within Historically White Institutions (HWIs). This study examines the factors contributing to the invisibility and barriers faced by Black males, including engagement, academic…

For 10 weeks, an online writing club was a place where seven children, ages 5 to 8, came together to co-construct a space for sharing favorite texts and composing practices. This study documents the ways that the writing club offered a space for children to construct shared literacy practices that allowed for new meaning-making, social…

"It's Better This Way" examined the cultural relevance of an educator's Hip-Hop identity for Black students enrolled within an occupational therapy program at a historically Black university. Furthermore, this study explored if Black students and alumni of the occupational therapy program felt empowered by the exhibition of the…

Researchers and leaders in music education have called for the inclusion of vernacular musicianship skills, popular music styles, and creative musicking experiences in K-12 classrooms to better connect with the music student's experience outside of school. Despite these recommendations, music teacher education programs have not effectively…

This qualitative, multi-site case study examines two cases focusing on the dialogic relations of secondary English students and their teachers, as they interact with print and non-print pop culture texts related to sports and/or music as part of a curriculum unit on a politically sensitive topic. The purpose of this inquiry is to examine…

This narrative inquiry research study explores the ways in which hip-hop culture functions as a form of resistance to the oppressive and traditional spaces that constitute predominantly white institutions (PWIs) of higher education. Despite the prevalence and power of hip-hop among Black collegians, little is known about how hip-hop can assist…

Little is known about how a college mass shooting affects faculty and staff survivors. The purpose of this study was to better understand how the experience of a college mass shooting affected the lives of faculty and staff involved in the incident. This study examined, in-depth, the personal accounts of six college staff and faculty who had…

The purpose of this narrative case study is to explore the use of pop culture as curriculum as embodied by Black women educators (BWEs) in their respective college courses. The bodies of research that ground this study address the foundations of curriculum, curriculum as it is informed by experiences, and how pop culture serves as a critical…

This quasi-experimental, concurrent, mixed method, action research study sought to evaluate how an elective 1-credit course informed by mindfulness and culturally sustaining pedagogy influenced honors students' academic self-efficacy, self-compassion, and their meaning-making about what it means to be an honors student. Theoretical perspectives…

This dissertation is not a dissertation, at least not in the traditional white-normed academic standards. Let's call it a project. This project aims to capture the lived experiences of Latinos navigating a whitestream educational system while using Hip-Hop culture as a form of empowerment. Whitestream schooling is causing cultural genocide that…