Dr. April Baker-Bell

Mentor: Dr. Tonya Perry

Dr. April Baker-Bell is an Assistant Professor in the department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures at Michigan State University. She also teaches courses in the English Education and African American and African Studies programs.
Dr. Baker-Bell’s research examines how African American youth construct their linguistic, cultural, and racial identities in relation to dominant language ideologies. Her research also explores how classroom instruction and counter-hegemonic pedagogies can be leveraged to support African American youth in constructing positive and transformative understandings of their linguistic and racial identities.

Dr. Maneka Deanna Brooks

Mentor: Dr. Eurydice Bauer

Dr. Maneka Deanna Brooks is an Assistant Professor of Reading Education at Texas State University where she works with in-service and pre-service teachers on topics related to equity and literacy education. Broadly, her scholarly interests focus on exploring the intersections of bilingualism and literacy. Her most recent work examines the literacy development of bilingual adolescents. However, she also studies the ways in which racial, linguistic, and ethnic diversity is conceptualized and addressed in teacher education. Maneka’s work has been published in Research in the Teaching of English, Language and Education, the Handbook of Bilingual and Multilingual Education, and other venues.

Dr. Theda Gibbs

Mentor: Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz

Dr. Theda Marie Gibbs is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Ohio University. She obtained her Ph.D. in Curriculum, Instruction & Teacher Education with a specialization in Language & Literacy and Urban Education from Michigan State University. She currently teaches undergraduate and graduate foundational reading and literacy research courses. Her research explores how to create more equitable learning spaces that embrace the literacies and lived experiences of African American youth both in and beyond school. Through a second line of research, she explores how teacher preparation programs prepare prospective teachers to develop culturally relevant teaching practices in all content areas, with an emphasis on reading courses.

Dr. Bong Gee Jang

Mentor: Ramón Antonio Martínez

Bong Gee Jang is an assistant professor in the Department of Reading and Language Arts. Bong Gee received his Ph.D. in Reading Education from University of Virginia in 2013. His main areas of research include literacy motivation and engagement in digital settings and disciplinary/content literacy. His research has appeared in Reading Research Quarterly, Educational Psychology Review, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, The Reading Teacher, and Assessment for Effective Intervention. Bong Gee teaches courses related to disciplinary literacy and language arts for both pre-service and in-service teachers. He also teaches introductory and advanced quantitative research method courses to doctoral students.

Dr. Lamar Johnson

Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Danridge Turner

Lamar L. Johnson is an Assistant Professor of Literacy for Racial and Linguistic Diversity at Miami University in Oxford, OH. He received his doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Curriculum Studies and Language and Literacy. His research focuses on Black education. Within the context of Black education, he is interested in the complex intersections of race, literacy, and education. Johnson’s work is featured in the Journal of African American Males in Education, The Journal of Negro Education, and English Education. His awards and recognitions include Cultivating New Voices Among Scholars of Color research program through the National Council of Teachers of English and Asa G. Hillard III and Barbara A. Sizemore Research Institute recipient from the American Education Research Association.

Dr. Bonnie Farrier

Mentor: Dr. Carmen Kynard

Bonnie Farrier’s research centers on issues in composition studies including theorizing African American literate and rhetorical traditions, understanding the intersections of gender and language in relationship to black female discursive practices, applying the perspectives from critical race studies and culturally relevant pedagogy to issues of teaching and learning, and highlighting new pedagogical approaches to African American language and literacy.