Tamara Brooks
has been in education for 25 years. She has taught middle school and high school at various schools ranging from rural to inner city and now internationally. She loves her job! She currently teaches at The American School of Belo Horizonte and Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Melisa “Misha” Cahnmann-Taylor
is a U.S. Fulbright Scholar Ambassador and Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia. She’s authored five books addressing intersections between language education and the literary, visual and performing arts including one book of poems, Imperfect Tense, and her newest book, Enlivening Instruction with Drama and Improv. Supported by grants and prizes from the National Endowment for the Arts, Fulbright, and Beckman Award for Professors Who Inspire, her work narrates the heartache and joy of teaching and learning language. She lives in Athens, GA with her husband and two children and their rescue dog, Bagel.
Susan Ophelia Cannon
is an assistant professor of mathematics education at the University of Georgia. She works and thinks across the boundaries of mathematics and statistics education, qualitative inquiry, and teacher education. She is the mother of two young adults. She also participates in acts of mothering with cats, chickens, tomato plants, blackberries, cucumbers, and unruly textual productions.
Carlson H. Coogler
is a doctoral candidate in Educational Research at the University of Alabama. She focuses on qualitative methodologies and is especially interested in how we do, learn, and teach research methodologies; transdisciplinary, multimodal and artful inquiry in and outside of the classroom; and qualitative pedagogies that advance more just futures.
Kerry F. Crawford
is Associate Professor and the Department Head of Political Science at James Madison University. She has written several books, including Wartime Sexual Violence: From Silence to Condemnation of a Weapon of War (2017), Human Security: Theory and Action (with David Andersen-Rodgers, 1st edition 2018, 2nd edition 2023), and The PhD Parenthood Trap: Caught Between Work and
Mandie Bevels Dunn
(PhD) currently works as Assistant Professor of English Education at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. Motivated by an interest in teacher well-being, she studies how grieving teachers manage their emotions in the context of reading, writing, and thinking with students.
Daniela Gachago
is Associate Professor at the Centre for Innovation for Learning and Teaching (CILT) at the University of Cape Town. Her current research focuses on academic staff development for designing blended and online learning in higher education, with a particular focus on developing socially just learning and curriculum designs based on co-creation and equity-oriented compassionate design principles.
Mo Gachago
is in grade 12 at the German International School of Cape Town and busy with final exams.
Kelsey Guy
is a doctoral candidate in Educational Research at The University of Alabama, and (at the time of publication) is actively working on her dissertation. A former Italian Instructor, she enjoys her work as the Faculty-Led Program Advisor in the UA Education Abroad Office, a role that allows her to be surrounded by one of her favorite things: traveling. An Academic Mother herself, Kelsey’s greatest pride and joy is found in her 1-year-old daughter, who, along with Kelsey’s husband, gave her the strength to write this chapter.
Kelly W. Guyotte
is Associate Professor of Qualitative Research at The University of Alabama where she also serves as Director of Faculty Development for the College of Education. Always drawing inspiration from her background in the visual arts, her research interests include issues of gender and equity in higher education, artful inquiry practices, STEAM (STEM + art) education, as well as
Jill Hermann-Wilmarth
is Professor of Socio-Cultural Studies, with specialization in early grades literacies, in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Educational Studies, with a joint appointment as professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at Western Michigan University. She is the co-author of Reading the Rainbow: LGBTQ-Inclusive Literacy Instruction in the Elementary Classroom (2018), which was awarded the Edward B. Fry Book Award from the Literacy Research Association.
Tynetta Jenkins
is a fourth grade teacher at Episcopal Day School in Augusta, Ga, where she teaches fourth grade math and science. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology and a master’s degree in Secondary Education from Augusta University.
A. C. Johnson
is a first-generation college graduate and mother who currently works as a student affairs administrator and faculty member. As a scholar of higher education, her current research explores Black women’s experiences in higher education and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU s). Overall, she is committed to assisting college students with their academic journeys in all capacities. She has served diverse student populations as a Clinical Assistant professor, an advisor, a program coordinator, and as a mentor, among many other roles.
Kate Kedley
is Associate Professor at Rowan University (Glassboro, New Jersey). Kate’s research interests are critical literacies, English Education, LGBTQ issues, and social and educational movements in Honduras.
Lodi Lipien
is a doctoral candidate in the Educational Measurement and Research program at the University of South Florida. She is employed full-time as a Research and Evaluation Manager for a large school district and is the proud mom of a fabulous 17-year-old.
Cheryl E. Matias
is a full professor in the School of Leadership and Education Science at the University of San Diego. She is an award winning scholar on race, whiteness, and
Shelly Melchior
is Assistant Professor of Secondary Education within the College of Education at the University of West Alabama, Livingston, and an adjunct faculty member within the Department of Educational Research at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. She is interested in the intersections of race, class, cultural capital, graduation rates, and the myth of meritocracy AND all things qualitative research.
Caitlin L. Ryan
is a professor in the Watson College of Education at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She is the co-author, along with Dr. Jill Hermann-Wilmarth of Western Michigan University, of the book Reading the Rainbow: LGBTQ-Inclusive Literacy Instruction in the Elementary Classroom, which received the Edward B. Fry Book Award from the Literacy Research Association in 2018. Her work has been published in a variety of national and international outlets, and she currently serves as an editor of the Journal of Children’s Literature.
Stephanie Anne Shelton
is Director of Diversity and an Associate Professor of Qualitative Research at The University of Alabama. She is the 2020 recipient of the AERA Division D Early Career Award in Measurement and Research Methodology, 2021 NCTE LGBTQ+ Advocacy and Leadership Award, 2022 American Library Association’s Choice Book Award, and 2023 Divergent Award for Excellence in Literacy Advocacy. Her scholarship has been featured in a number of journals and funded by the Spencer Foundation, American Educational Research Association, and National Council of Teachers of English.
Sara Scott Shields
(PhD) is Associate Professor of Art Education at The Florida State University. She currently serves as Chair of the Art Education Department. Dr. Shields has taught at the secondary or college level for 17 years. Her research and curriculum development is focused on the integration of visual journaling, contemporary art, community and personal histories, and how these might work together to create unique opportunities for art educators and students to engage in civically minded and socially just educative encounters.
is Assistant Professor of Clinical Practice at Mercer University. She works with both undergraduate and graduate level students in Early Childhood, ELAD, Educational Leadership and Field Experiences. She is the mother of three adult children. Her extra time is consumed with community service and non-profit organizations.
Erica Warren
graduated with her doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Mercer University. She studied the hidden curriculum of being/becoming a middle school teacher through a Black feminist lens. She is currently Director of Programs for Boys and Girls Clubs of America where she supports innovative program development for Clubs nationwide. She lives in metro Atlanta with her husband and 2 kids.
Leah Windsor
is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics in the Institute for Intelligent Systems and Department of English at The University of Memphis where she directs the Languages Across Cultures lab which studies language in opaque political environments. Her work in computational linguistics examines the question, “How does what we say reveal who we are?” She is currently PI on an NSF grant studying multimodal communication (#2117009). Her book on gender and bias in family formation with Kerry F. Crawford, The PhD Parenthood Trap, is available with Georgetown University Press. Leah is also a fourth generation farmer.
Jennifer (Jenni) Wolgemuth
is an associate professor at the University of South Florida, in the College of Education’s Measurement and Research program. Jenni’s scholarly activity involves reading theory that is often well beyond her ability to follow, usually with super-smart students/friends/colleagues, and then thinking, conducting, writing qualitative inquiry with and through it.