Digital Commons Network^™

One Size Does Not Fit All: An Autoethnographic Account Of Fat Representation In Yal As A Catalyst For Fat Acceptance, Laura Beal

Doctoral Dissertations

With campaigns like We Need Diverse Books (Mabbott, 2017), readers and authors of young adult literature (YAL) are calling for more diverse representations of adolescents and adolescence, such as in race, gender, sexuality, and ability, to name a few. However, size inclusivity is often left off this list. As a young adult, I was fat, and I never had characters who were productive representations to turn to. I did not see ‘me’ in the pages of the books I read. The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to explore my own relationship with YAL novels that center the fat …

“Putting Coyolxauhqui Together”: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Identifying And Healing Fragmentation Through Decolonial Feminist Creative Writing Practices, Elizabeth Parker Garcia

Doctoral Dissertations

There has been a chronic need for more high-quality children’s books by minoritized authors, yet few scholars have examined the historic contexts and formative processes impacting such authors’ success. This critical autoethnographic study employs a decolonial feminist lens and creative practices to help one children’s book writer examine the formative sources impacting both her fragmentation and her inner strength. The Vietnamese American author specifically examines historic sources of Anti-Asian racism in the United States including those that influenced her directly during her childhood. On a personal level, she explores artifacts from her K-12 and college experiences that help her understand …

Transformative White Identity As A Teacher Educator: A Poetic Narrative Autoethnography, Scott E. Jenkinson

Doctoral Dissertations

Whiteness, white privilege, and white supremacy are oppressive power structures that invisibly condition educational relationships among all students, teachers, and teacher educators. To undermine this destructive pattern, white teacher educators must actively commit to an ongoing and life-long process of white identity (re)formation that informs antiracist pedagogical praxis and models self -reflective practices for their pre-service teachers. The purpose of this poetic narrative evocative autoethnography is to show but one example of how a white teacher educator might begin this emotionally forward transformative experience.

The researcher, a white teacher educator at a southeastern United States public 4-year institution, developed a …