This paper is one part of a larger study of scholars with working-class backgrounds. The purpose was to find factors in their working-class upbringing that led to their pursuit of a doctorate and life in the academy. In this section, I use symbolic conversion theory and biosemiotics to in the analysis and discussion of two major threads running through the study: the role of parochial education and an early passion for reading. Keywords: class, social justice, biosemiotics, symbolic convergence, higher education, embodied
