Recent PhD Graduates

  • Cara Monaco, PhD, 2025  (Assistant Professor of Literacy, SUNY Cortland)
    Dissertation: Perceptions of Restorative Practices and Restorative Justice: Exploratory Interviews With Teachers, Students and Administrators in a Rural High School Setting

  • Kristian Douglas, PhD, 2022  (Assistant Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Clark Atlanta University)
    Dissertation: Exploring Critical Literacy Pursuits through Critical Race Theory and Teacher Narratives in an East Harlem High School

  • Stephanie Johnson, PhD, 2021  (Assistant Professor, Elmira College)
    Dissertation: Interactional Dynamics and Their Impact on Collaboration: A micro-analysis of inclusion teachers’ discursive interactions [positioning theory]

  • Christianna Kfouri, PhD, 2021  (Assistant Professor, Literacy Studies, East Carolina University)
    Dissertation: Sociocultural Home and School Literacy Practices of Syrian Refugee Families Revealed Across Domains, Space, and Time [positioning theory]

  • Aijuan Cun, PhD, 2020  (Assistant Professor, Literacy and Language Arts, University of New Mexico)
    Dissertation: Capturing the Lived Experiences of Refugee Families: A Positioning, Literacies, and Multimodal Perspectives Study [positioning theory]

  • Tiffany Nyachae, PhD, 2018  (Assistant Professor, Pennsylvania State University)
    Dissertation: ‘Race Space’ Critical Professional Development: Supporting the Racial Literacy Cultivation, Social Justice, Ideological Becoming, and Social Justice Teaching of Urban Teachers

  • Katarina Silvestri, PhD, 2018  (Associate Professor & Literacy Department Chair, SUNY Cortland)
    Dissertation: The Kids Inquiry Conference: Tensions in Literacy Activities, Practices, and Actions across Elementary-Level Spaces for Student-Driven Inquiry