Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Philosophy, Applied

This dissertation explores the intersection of epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics. Specifically, it covers ground where these fields overlap in such a way that special interdisciplinary attention is required. Chapter I discusses the notion of epistemic harm within the epistemic injustice literature and argues that we should abandon the notion of epistemic harm in order to strengthen our notion of epistemic injustice. Chapter II continues to explore the intersection of epistemology and ethics and offers a refinement of the recent literature on epistemic trespassing, arguing that we need not limit our conception of epistemic trespassing to be a wrong perpetrated only by experts. Chapter III operates a broader level and argues for limitation on closed epistemic communities, that is, discursive communities who limit their membership in public fora. I argue that the meta level discourse on who is properly part of such groups cannot be constrained by what I call the Stay In You Lane (SIYL) Norm. Finally, in Chapter IV, using Chapter III as requiring engagement with trans-exclusionary feminism, I argue that traditional approaches to the question of trans policy, which attempt to resolve the question via an account of the metaphysics of gender, are misguided and that an ethics first approach yields a clear requirement for trans inclusive social policies.

Committee: Michael Weber Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Hrishikesh Joshi Ph.D. (Committee Member); Molly Grosscup Ph.D. (Committee Member); Angela Nelson Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Epistemology; Ethics; Gender; Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Educational Studies

Educational justice has traditionally been conceptualized in non-educational terms. Categories of justice with economic and political clout dominate scholarly conversations about educational justice and inform educational policymaking and practice. This leads to a narrow conceptualization of educational justice in distributive terms. The author challenges the hegemony of the dominant paradigm and advances a new paradigm for theorizing educational justice to inform educational research, policymaking, and practice. In developing this new paradigm, the dissertation first establishes the dominance of distributive justice as a guiding principle of US education policy and as a lens for theorizing educational injustice in educational research. It offers a historical analysis of federal education policy focused on the principles of justice that underpinned the policies enacted. Moreover, it presents limitations of distributive justice, thereby, establishing the need to reconsider our understanding of what constitutes an educational injustice and what policies are appropriate for disrupting such injustices. Second, the dissertation advances an account of educational injustice that centers on the obstruction of two distinctly educational tasks: knowledge acquisition and self-formation. In doing so, it reorients education policy and research toward two distinctly educational injustices: epistemic oppression and developmental coercion. It is argued that these are severe educational wrongs that also contribute to pressing social problems and injustices. The dissertation concludes by outlining implications of replacing the standard distributive paradigm with a democratic paradigm of epistemic empowerment and developmental enablement that fosters epistemic agency and disrupts the impact of harmful ideology on moral and intellectual development. It suggests that the new paradigm compels us to reconsider that nature of educational injustice and, relatedly, the locus and scope of ped (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Bryan Warnick (Advisor); Winston Thompson (Advisor); Jackie Blount (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education History; Education Philosophy; Education Policy; Educational Theory; Epistemology; Ethics; Philosophy; Public Policy

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2022, English

This thesis explores the epistemic injustices Hmong Americans have suffered within Western medicine in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. In contrast to medical and academic discourses, which blame “cross-cultural differences” as the cause for these health disparities, I contend Western medicine and society dismiss Hmong individuals' knowledge and experiences, which is particularly damaging to them as survivors of genocide, forced migration, and racial oppression. In the early twenty-first century, American hospitals attempted to improve their treatment of Hmong patients by designing “cross-cultural” trainings for shamans and physicians. Although these trainings aspired to welcome shamans into hospitals, they were not an example of cross-cultural exchange and instead prioritized Western practices, ignoring the curative value of shaman rituals. I analyze memoirs, ethnographies, and research materials from the Hmong Archives in St. Paul, Minnesota, to consider how shaman performances and behaviors redress epistemic injustices by acknowledging Hmong suffering, remembering communal losses, and resisting the scriptocentric expectations of Western medicine. With this interdisciplinary project, I investigate the synergies and tensions between Hmong literature, performance studies, and the medical humanities. My primary aim is to speak beside Hmong Americans and recognize how their practices provide a crucial method for countering medical inequality.

Committee: Katie Johnson Dr. (Committee Chair); Cynthia Klestinec Dr. (Committee Member); Andrew Hebard Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: American Literature; Asian Literature; Health Care; Medical Ethics; Performing Arts; South Asian Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2021, Educational Leadership

The purpose of this qualitative, arts-based research study was to understand new arrival students' experience, meaning making, and opportunity for developing intellectual self-trust during an illustrated memoir project. The project was set during the school day, in a high school, English Language Learners classroom with the aim of centering new arrival students' lived experience and unique funds of knowledge in their academic setting. A year long pilot study informed the design of the final research study. The dissertation study engaged 13 students from 10 different countries ranging in age from 14-19. All 12 participants who remained throughout the school year completed a minimum 24-page illustrated memoir. Narrative analysis and visual analysis of student memoirs, combined with thematic analysis of researcher journals and informal interviews provided insight into participant experience, meaning making, and the project's potential to foster intellectual self-trust. Recommendations for future research in this area include scaffolding additional curricular activities to reinforce and enhance intellectual self-trust, adopting illustrated memoir making and hands-on visual art learning as a classroom pedagogy, and planned opportunities for peer-to-peer mentoring. The study provides an example of how an illustrated memoir-making project can further the development of intellectual self-trust on the part of new arrival high school students.

Committee: Kate Rousmaniere (Committee Chair); Stephanie Danker (Committee Member); Kathleen Knight-Abowitz (Committee Member); Thomas Poetter (Committee Member) Subjects: Art Education; Biographies; Curricula; Education; Education Philosophy; Educational Leadership; English As A Second Language; Epistemology; Fine Arts; Language Arts; Literacy; Multilingual Education; Secondary Education; Teaching

Master of Humanities (MHum), Wright State University, 2019, Humanities

In this thesis, I illustrate how epistemic injustice functions in the divide between white working-class men and the educated elite by discussing the discursive ways in which working-class knowledge and experience are devalued as legitimate sources of knowledge. I demonstrate this by using critical discourse analysis to interpret the underlying attitudes and ideologies in comments made by Clinton and Trump during their 2016 presidential campaigns. I also discuss how these ideologies are positively or negatively perceived by Trump's working-class base. Using feminist standpoint theory and phenomenology as a lens of interpretation, I argue that white working-class men are increasingly alienated from progressive politics through classist and ableist rhetoric. If progressives wish to win over white working-class men, they will need to ameliorate this division, otherwise this gap will continue to grow. Finally, I suggest class-sensitive approaches for moving forward and bridging this gap.

Committee: Kelli Zaytoun Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jessica Penwell-Barnett Ph.D. (Committee Member); Donovan Miyasaki Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Cultural Anthropology; Demographics; Epistemology; Gender; Gender Studies; Philosophy; Political Science; Rhetoric; Sociology; Womens Studies