Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Theses/Dissertations

2012

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Autobiography

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Education

Through Smoke And Mirrors: Constructing Identity Between The Myths Of Black Inferiority And A Post-Racial America, Gwyneira Yvette Dixon Ledford Oct 2012

Through Smoke And Mirrors: Constructing Identity Between The Myths Of Black Inferiority And A Post-Racial America, Gwyneira Yvette Dixon Ledford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an inquiry into my life. It is an exploration of my lived experience as an African American female negotiating through traditions in Southern culture and societal pressures to create a positive identity. Using autobiographical narrative (Connelly, He, & Phillion, 2008, Pinar, 2008) as a methodology and Black Feminist Thought (Collins, 2000), double consciousness (DuBois, 1903), and the Nigrescence Theory of black identity development (Cross, 1991) as the theoretical framework, I examine my experiences from childhood to adulthood. Through these narrations, I note paradigm shifts in my thinking that identify the psychological struggles between feeling racially inferior and …


Curriculum And The Life Erratic: The Geographic Cure, Leslie B. Nissen Jan 2012

Curriculum And The Life Erratic: The Geographic Cure, Leslie B. Nissen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines a subset of Children of Alcoholics, whom I call Geographic Cure Children, who cope with both fermented parenting (as I have termed it) AND transient schooling. Viewed by schools and school systems simply as “highly mobile” students, their frequent school changes tell only part of the story. Geographic Cure Children arrive at their newest classrooms bearing the heavy burdens of emotional trauma and dark secrets about the Life Erratic. However, due to frequent mobility, their access to help or support is sketchy at best. Through currere, I employ autobiographical and psychoanalytic lenses to explore the intersection of …