Introducing Scholarly Personal Narratives

UPDATE - FALL 2021

Introducing Scholarly
Personal

Narratives

First-person Reflections
From Wise and Well-

practiced Scholars and
Practitioners

“I have often felt that as scholars, we are part and parcel to the enterprise of
educating and elevating. We are, in essence, a valid object of study as well.”

~ Dr. Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, OCCRL Director

A fe w years ago, prior to COVID-19 engulfing by the first-person reflections of these wise and well-regarded
the world, OCCRL Director Eboni Zamani- scholars and practitioners. Listen to what drew them into the
Gallaher had the idea of highlighting the lives of field as well as what undergirds their commitment to fostering
accomplished, interesting scholars through their equitable education. Hear what their intentional actions are
own words. She conducted numerous enlightening interviews, toward advancing positive change in the realms of racial justice
only to see them temporarily buried by pandemic-related and equity for all. And, perhaps most important, discover their
roadblocks that halted their production. pearls of wisdom, life lessons, and calls to action as they share
their wide-ranging thoughts and feelings.
But that was then, and this is now.
These podcasts are for everybody, but individuals whose
OCCRL is proud to introduce Scholarly Personal Narratives leadership is dedicated to advancing equity for marginalized,
(SPN), a revealing podcast series that has at last come to underserved, and racially minoritized individuals should find
fruition. Dr. Zamani-Gallaher calls SPN “a constructivist Scholarly Personal Narratives to be especially engaging, perhaps
research methodology.” even tools for professional development. Give the SPN
podcasts a listen as they are released and drop us a note at
Scholars and practitioners are often passionate individuals who [email protected] to tell us what you think.
care greatly about their work—and SPN interviewees are no
exception—but these individuals are not merely academicians The inaugural SPN episode with Amalia Z. Dache can be
but richly layered and simply human. Like many of us in all heard at https://go.education.illinois.edu/spndache
areas of life, they have hopes, feelings, and dreams as well as
backstories that have shaped them personally and professionally.
SPN showcases the experiences of educators and researchers
beyond their classrooms, labs, and fields of study.
As you listen to the SPN series, we hope you will be inspired

UPDATE - FALL 2021

SPN Interviewees and Notable Podcast Excerpts

Amalia Z. Dache: Associate
Professor, Graduate School
of Education, University of
Pennsylvania
Podcast excerpt: “They were involved in the
activism on Ferguson streets and they brought this
activism into the college campus. So, Ferguson
radicalizes these colleges students to bring equity-
mindedness and bring challenging domination in the
community setting into the college setting.”

Leslie Gonzales: Associate
Professor, College of Education,
Michigan State University

Podcast excerpt: “There’s a method that really
aligns with my own Chicana feminist epistemology,

which understands that notions like objectivity
and neutrality are really just convenient covers for
how whiteness and masculinity have shaped the

academy.”

Frank Harris III: Professor,
College of Education, San Diego
State University

Podcast excerpt: “Just kind of reflecting on that
experience and growing up in the Ninth Ward,

and thinking about some of my earliest schooling
experiences, it really did have a high impact on who
I am: my identity, my identity as a person, my identity
as a man of color, and ultimately, my identity as a

scholar.”

UPDATE - FALL 2021

Pamala Luster: President, San
Diego Mesa College

Podcast excerpt: “Number one, I’m a mom. I’m a
mother. I’m a teacher. I’m a coach, mentor, student,

and grandmother. And I say all of those things
because that is the center of who I am, and that is the

center of how I do my work.”

Soko Starobin: Independent
Consultant and CEO of Gratitude
Expressionist, LLC

Podcast excerpt: “I thought I was strong physically
and good, but I was diagnosed with an early stage of
breast cancer. That was a shock. I didn’t know where

that came from.”

D-L Stewart: Professor and
Department Chair of Higher
Education, Morgridge College of
Education, University of Denver

Podcast excerpt: “I point out my tenured status and
my rank as full professor intentionally because, as a
Black, trans, queer, disabled person, I’m a unicorn. I
shouldn’t be in the academy. I shouldn’t be at this level.

It’s a disruption.”

Asif Wilson: Assistant Professor,
Social Studies Education,
University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign

Podcast excerpt: “Let’s talk about the spaces where
we are dismantling the harmful conditions that don’t
just support Black students but actually support all

students. Let’s start to talk about those curricular
modifications of transformation where we no longer
think about mathematics from a Eurocentric point of
view, but we talk about our Indigenous practices.”