Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Identity, Presence, and Intentionality: A Brief Review of Literature

For too long, education has emphasized a systematized approach designed to maximize efficiency and a standardization of curriculum and pedagogical design. Too often, educational practice framed in Anglo-European norms remain unchallenged and place students whose cultural identity does not align with the dominant norms at disadvantage. In turn, curricula and pedagogies fail to acknowledge the role that culture and identity play in both teaching and learning. Critically oriented and culturally relevant pedagogies have the potential to foster critical thinking, identity development, and equity. This article examines how the tenets of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and identity development into educational practice can be utilized to empower practitioners to more informed, equitable, and impact in their work with a diverse student populatio

The Marvel Sonic Narrative: A Study of the Film Music in Marvel\u27s The Avengers, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame

This document explores the music of three films in the Marvel Avengers enterprise: Marvel’s The Avengers, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. It does not examine the second film of the series, Avengers: Age of Ultron. The document seeks to uncover and further understand the music’s function in each film and to determine its continuity throughout all three films. This study uses a combination of film music studies and theory-based analysis to support the findings with the aim of identifying connecting musical elements that stretch throughout these three films. This includes the use of leitmotif/themes, previously introduced music, musical similarity and contrast, as well as ways the music fits in the larger dramatic scheme of each film and the overall function of film music. Ultimately, this document will uncover vital themes that progress the sonic narrative in the Avengers soundscape

Critical Autobiography as Research

Identity is a reflection of how people view themselves within the social structure (Campbell, 2010; Hill & Thomas, 2000). Too often these identities are mirror images of normalized labels and affiliations defined by, and through, social norms and values. Introspective of social constructs and teachings of normalcy, often times one’s identity and status is never questioned (Ramsey, 2004). Juxtaposing systemic thinking with personal knowledge, this article offers insights into the uses and contributions of critical autobiographical research as a both paradigm of research and practice. This article seeks to link the application of critical autobiography with educational practice and theory to promote social justice, identity development, and lifelong learning

The Third Wave of Graduate Labor Unions

A 2016 NLRB decision that made graduate labor unions legal has contributed significantly to a wave of graduate organizing, continuing a 50-year history of graduate unions. This research investigates this contemporary wave of graduate unionization using two papers, which take a theoretical and an empirical approach respectively. The first paper uses a Marxist analysis to connect the narrow antagonism between graduates and management with larger-scale phenomena that involves other workers too, such as the growing population of contingent academic workers. It describes how corporate interests have influenced higher education and administrators have become managers of workers in order to help serve capitalist interests. The second paper is an empirical investigation into the strategies that graduate unions are pursuing in this third wave of graduate union organizing, based on interviews from twelve graduates from eight different unions across the country. Graduate organizers discussed their unions’ experiences of building and maintaining an organization that represents and forwards the interests of the body of graduate workers at their institutions, as well as how their unions are connecting with other communities and developing broader targets for action. The goal of these papers is to understand the nature of contemporary graduate employment as well as to develop insights that organizers have gained in their experiences organizing in unions

Book Review: Rhode Islanders Record the Revolution

This is a brief book review by Anthony Walker, on Rhode Islanders Record the Revolution: The Journals of William Humphrey and Zuriel Waterman, by Nathaniel N. Shipton and David Swain