Reshaping research by crossing disciplines

From my first days at Penn GSE, my professors prepared me as a researcher, an educator, a job candidate, and ultimately, as a professor.

In my research, I examine how the ways we learn, teach, and talk about literacy are entwined with histories of technology, disciplinarity, and sociopolitical reform. I am especially interested in how these convergences are implicated in the struggle for justice and equity in education policy and practice.

I realized part way through my program that I had this sort of historical dimension to this work—history of technology specifically. I had taken some courses in History and Sociology of Science. There was this entire other field that was available on campus that had its own history with methodologies to be able to do that kind of research. My advisor and my program chair figured out a way to get a master’s in History of Science on the way to the Ph.D. Their willingness to push to find the right solution for me ended up reshaping how I approach a lot of work I do, and gave me a unique angle with how I was coming at education and literacy.

My primary advisor brought me in as a TA and walked me through how you plan a class, structure a syllabus, and respond to student work meaningfully. Then she went out of her way to connect me to other people she was in contact with in the field of literacy studies. By the time I graduated, I discovered that through her mentoring, I had built a rich network in the field. That made me able to feel confident stepping into my first job as a professor.