“Through my scholarship and pedagogy, I deliberately center the stories, histories, and humanity of queer and trans people of color. Whether sitting on a committee, writing, or teaching, I am always considering how education might function as a tool of justice and liberation. More than diversity and equity, I am interested in how we might utilize pedagogies and classrooms to facilitate transformative dialogue and learning. A critical literacies scholar, I am invested in interrogating and imagining what is possible through more affirming and equitable literacy pedagogies. A big part of my work is simply exploring the “what ifs?” alongside youth, educators, and scholars. These “what ifs?” allow for orientations to schooling that welcome critique, dreaming, and world-building – all with diversity, equity, and inclusion in mind.”
shea wesley martin (they/them) is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University. Primarily interested in the (im)possibilities of schooling in the United States, their current research examines how race, gender, sexuality, and place impact the literacy practices of queer and trans youth of color. A nationally recognized educator and organizer, shea is the 2022 recipient of ALAN’s Bill Konigsberg Award for Acts and Activism for Equity and Inclusion through Young Adult Literature and the 2023 NCTE LGBTQIA+ Advocacy & Leadership Award. Their work appears in multiple scholarly and creative outlets, including Research on Diversity in Youth Literature and Radical Teacher.
