Participatory action research (PAR) methodologies attract researchers both because they open up space to apply the values and principles associated with social justice and because they have the potential to deepen our understanding of an issue by giving us the opportunity to explore contexts and processes through people's experiences. This allows for new insights to emerge and relevant solutions to be discovered and implemented through emancipatory practices. However, choosing to do this type of research for a thesis as a master's of social work student without lived or research experience complicates an already complex endeavor and raises many dilemmas, questions and challenges. Reflecting on my experience of working with a peer-led community organization in Southern Ontario that provides services for people who have experienced mental health or substance use challenges and have interacted with the mental health system, this thesis will explore my journey of joining a research team that set out to use PAR to better understand peer support. Using a narrative inquiry approach, I will explore the tensions that occurred throughout the process of attempting PAR with a community agency within the university framework of completing a thesis. In the spirit of PAR and its intention to disrupt dominant approaches to research processes, I will use an alternative, storytelling format in order to best illustrate my circumstances, perspectives and the difficulties I faced as an outsider, student, university researcher trying to follow PAR principles. The lessons I learned will also be provided in an effort to make this type of undertaking easier for future students. Overall, I learned that we need to find ways to bridge and support the two cultures of graduate students and community groups in working together in PAR. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

The purpose of this research was to study identity performance among undergraduate Muslim international women on college campuses in the U.S. Identity performance was defined as the way in which these women acted, engaged, interacted, behaved, and situated themselves in their various environments (Goffman, 1959). The conceptual framework for the study was Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory (1979) that identifies five environmental systems in which an individual interacts (microsystems, mesosystems, ecosystems, macrosystems, and chronosystems). This study focused on identity performance in microsystems. Narrative inquiry, a qualitative methodological approach, was utilized to pursue two research questions: (1) how do undergraduate Muslim international women describe their experiences of identity performance inside college environments; and (2) how do undergraduate Muslim international women describe their experiences of identity performance outside college environments? Two in-person interviews were conducted with eight participants representing six countries (Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia). Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and data were analyzed with four iterations of coding (narrative coding, refining narrative coding, pattern coding, theming the data) (Saldaña, 2015). Five themes emerged: Muslim identity performance in home country, Muslim identity performance and family, Muslim international identity consciousness, religious engagement on campus, and understandings of new Muslim international identity. The stories shared revealed that identity performance was a complex process; it was ever changing and evolving as Muslim international women navigated their way from a religiously homogeneous environment in the home country to a heterogeneous environment within the U.S. Their microsystems and interactions with various environments influenced their performances of their various identities. These influences were also related to contextual conformity, psychological awareness, agency, resilience, persistence, positivity and appreciation of their experiences in the ever-changing environments. The study has implications for faculty and university administrators who are seeking to create inclusive and encouraging academic and social environments. Findings also have implications for future research on identity performance, contextual conformity, and experiences of Muslim international students. / Doctor of Philosophy / The population in the United States of America is rapidly becoming more diverse in terms of ethnicities, religions, and resident demographics. As a result of this shifting pattern towards heterogeneity, colleges and universities are also becoming more diverse (Seidman, 2005). International students and Muslim students are two such populations that have contributed to the increased diversity of the student body. Among these populations, international Muslim women reside at a unique intersection of gender, religion, culture, ethnicity, and national identities. Literature reveals that Muslim international women are often stereotyped and they experience Islamophobia in gendered ways (Cole & Ahmadi, 2003). The purpose of my research was to study identity performance of Muslim international women on two college campuses in the U.S. Identity performance was the ways in which these women acted, engaged, interacted, behaved and situated themselves in their various environments (Goffman, 1959). I used Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory (1979) as the conceptual framework for this study. This theory identifies five environmental systems in which individuals interact (microsystems, mesosystems, ecosystems, macrosystems, and chronosystems). This study focused on identity performance in microsystems, which were their immediate environments. I used narrative inquiry, a qualitative methodological approach, to pursue two research questions: (1) how do undergraduate Muslim international women describe their experiences of identity performance inside college environments; and (2) how do undergraduate Muslim international women describe their experiences of identity performance outside college environments? I conducted two interviews each with eight participants to collect their stories of identity performance. The stories shared revealed that identity performance was a complex process. Contextual conformity, psychological awareness, agency, resilience, persistence, positivity and appreciation of their experiences influenced their identity performances. This study has implications for faculty and university administrators who are seeking to create inclusive, convenient and encouraging academic and social environments for all students. Findings also have implications for future research on identity performance, contextual conformity, and experiences of Muslim international students.

Historically, many faith-based hunger relief efforts address food insecurity through the emergency food system, but they often do not challenge the systemic causes of the need, which according to some, are poverty and inequality. As a promising alternative, community food work is a radical approach to food system change that imbues values of justice, sustainability, and equity into the food system to reduce the pervasiveness of poverty and inequality in society. I used narrative inquiry as methodology in a faith-based context to explore the role of criticality in community food work. Additionally, I explored the treatment of hegemony in these practitioners' critically reflective practice. I engaged six practitioners in narrative-based interviews and subsequently asked them to read and analyze their own interview. I then gathered all participants for a collective reflection session where we reflected on excerpts from the interviews and used them as a foundation for further dialogue and reflection. Each practitioner used their faith to varying degrees in the performance of their work. I found significant notions of feeling called to serve, and bringing God's kingdom to earth, but an avoidance to use this work to evangelize. The narratives reflected community food work as a community development effort and extended beyond the context of food. Affirming, trusting relationships serve as a foundation to how this group of practitioners approach their work, and provide the space to interact with their work in radical ways and raise critical consciousness. / Master of Science in Life Sciences

The neoliberal political economy guiding our present food system has contributed to our present unsustainable situation, characterized by wicked problems such as environmental degradation, food insecurity and diet-related illness. Our current condition demands a new conception of sustainability to guide creative and counter-hegemonic interventions that can supplant the dominant oppressive structures and processes presently characterizing development efforts. While community gardens have been recognized as common grounds for food systems transformation, research has largely missed this opportunity for exploration. Drawing from the planetary and emancipatory frameworks of transformative learning, and a conception of sustainability rooted in life values, counter-hegemony, and social justice, this case study explores how a collective community garden is a critical pedagogy space for stakeholders to change their own reality within their food system. Using narrative inquiry as a methodology, I conducted semi-structured interviews with garden stakeholders (n=12). The lived experiences of study participants revealed the transformative potential of the Farmacy Garden rooted in the community food security movement. As a space that inspires critical consciousness for humanization, study participants deepened their awareness of new choices and possibilities in their food system rooted in life values. As a space that inspires social action for community economies, the Farmacy Garden promoted transactions rooted in reciprocity and gift-based exchange. Through critical hope and creative imagination for integral development, study participants are envisioning and exploring alternatives that can guide us in the challenging and contradictory work of "making new worlds" (Gibson-Graham, 2008, p. 628). / Master of Science in Life Sciences / The Farmacy Garden (FG) is a collective community garden built on public land in a small town in rural, southwest Virginia, with a mission to promote health, increase food security, and build community capacity among low-income residents in the region. As an educational garden funded within a public health context, the FG programs and evaluation parameters have prioritized health outcomes over other potential benefits of the site. This study embraces a whole-systems perspective, providing an opportunity to cultivate a richer understanding of the role the FG plays as a critical pedagogy space for sustainability and food systems transformation. Drawing on the planetary and emancipatory conceptions of transformative learning, and narrative inquiry as a methodology, this case study explores the perceptions and experiences of FG participants and practitioners (n=12) through story and critical reflection using semi-structured, narrative interviews. The lived experiences of these stakeholders reveals the FG's role as an educational site that enables participants and practitioners to cultivate new understandings of themselves, invigorate new forms of social action, and nurture new imaginaries that provoke possibilities beyond the current condition.

The term “at risk” is a label that is used to describe students who encompass a host of prominent socially and politically constructed titles that are intended to simplify student understanding and awareness and allow for clear reporting. The purpose of this study was to demythologize the concept of “at risk” by creating the conditions for student voice and critical dialogue to emerge, through the use of narrative inquiry. This research hoped to provide an outlet for young people to find and use their own voices, while finding their own place within their lived histories. The research also aimed to raise awareness of the reality of the contemporary U.S. educational system: we often create policies and programs without considering the perspectives of the young people whom these services are designed to serve. Through critical narrative inquiry, six former student’s engaged in unstructured interviews and a focus group. Through analysis of the data set, five themes emerged and include 1) relationships with bicultural adults who understand, 2) instrumentalizing pedagogy, 3) the impact of money-driven policy, 4) the awareness of limitations of opportunities, and 5) the overall theme of the transparency of hegemony. This research hoped to problematize the label in an effort to move toward an emancipatory understanding of how we speak about young people and make sense of the circumstances these young people must navigate through their education and their world.

The present study addresses three objectives: 1) to explore the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) persons who are coming in the United States as students and coming out about their sexual orientation, 2) to explore the cultural narratives that emerge in their disclosure process, and 3) to generate ways to support LGBQ international students. Research on the disclosure process for LGBQ persons have been comprised largely of white, middle-class individuals and families. This narrative inquiry broadens our understanding of how LGBQ persons from different cultures define and experience the coming-out process, particularly in the context of moving to a different country. Twelve LGBQ international students shared their coming in, coming out stories through interviews, journals, a timeline, online forum, and picture. Narrative analysis of their stories consisted of three methods: thematic, structural, and dialogic. These findings provide directions for future research, clinical practitioners, educators, and student affairs personnel working with international students. / Ph. D. / Imagine moving to a different culture. You arrive in a foreign land, where you are grouped into a racial category that represents many countries and cultures. You struggle to stay in contact with family and friends from your native country while trying to build connections and find support in your new home. On top of that, your sexual identity is non-heterosexual, and the social climate and level of acceptance toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) people in your new home is vastly different from your country-of-origin. This is a sliver of the experiences that LGBQ persons may face when moving to a different country. The present project explores the stories of LGBQ international students in the United States, in hopes of generating ways to support them. Twelve LGBQ international students shared their coming in, coming out stories. This broadens our understanding of how cultures shapes the coming-out process, particularly in the context of moving to a different country. These findings provide directions for future research, clinical practitioners, educators, and student affairs personnel working with international students.

The COVID-19 pandemic strained and highlighted the fragility of the U.S. mental health care system, during a co-occurring period of increased societal attention to racism. Existing disparities in MH access and utilization worsened. This three-study dissertation explores and describes mental health utilization rates and experiences of individuals with multiple marginalized identities and applies Intersectionality Theory as a critical lens of analysis. Study 1 describes, maps and analyzes trends in mental health utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic with data from the COVID-19 Research Database, utilizing a 1- year pre-COVID-19 comparison group. On average U.S. adults utilized more mental health visits per person per month during the first year of the pandemic compared to 1-year prior. However, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and adults aged 65 and older saw a statistically significant decrease in mental health visits during the first year of COVID-19. Findings of disparities in access and utilization emphasize the need for more structural solutions to address mental health equity. Study 2 explores and describes the experiences of eight women of color navigating mental health services during COVID-19 and a concurrent period of increased societal attention to racism, through qualitative interviews analyzed using a narrative approach. Key findings from these interviews were as follows: 1) these women sought mental health services due to increased fears of racial violence and being burdened at work to teach others about racism, 2) changes due to COVID-19 like telehealth, made accessing therapy easier for most of these women during this period, but 3) they had to put in additional work to find culturally responsive therapists, and 4) they experienced racism perpetuated by mental health professionals within the therapeutic dyad. Study 3 applies Intersectionality Theory and Intersectional Quantitative methods to identify and describe potential disparities in mental health utilization for individuals at the intersection of gender and race. Propensity Score Matching (PSM) was utilized to address the variability of serious mental illness, education level, income level, and age category on overall mean mental health utilization per person per month, and the mean change in visits during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID-19 among U.S. adults with a mental health diagnosis. Disparities in mean mental health visits by the intersection of race and gender and independent variables, such as education and income, demonstrate key intersectional findings that not all quantifiable measures such as income level, impact all women of color similarly because of the intersecting systems of power and oppression. These findings demonstrate the need for Intersectional methods informed by racial and social justice in the identification of disparities in mental health utilization to inform training and policy interventions to increase access to culturally responsive mental health care services. / 2026-08-19T00:00:00Z

The Massachusetts METCO program is a state-funded, voluntary educational desegregation program designed to eliminate racial imbalance by busing children from Boston, MA, and Springfield, MA to 38 suburban public-school districts across Massachusetts. This Dissertation is a Qualitative-Method Research study that honors the voices and perspectives of Black participants who went through the METCO program, using Critical Race Theory (CRT), Critical Race Feminist Theory (CRFT), and the Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST) as guiding frameworks to understand better the impacts of the program on the life outcomes of its students. These theories guided the conceptualization of the following research questions which the study aims to address. How do Black participants describe their experiences in the METCO program? What are the participants’ views and perspectives on how their experiences in the METCO program have influenced their life outcomes? How have the racial experiences while in the METCO program affected the mental health outcomes of the participants? What are the participants’ views on the implications of these experiences on current and future METCO policies? Using the narrative inquiry method, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants and 1 participant opted to share their views via a letter instead. The data were coded and analyzed using inductive and deductive coding consistent with narrative inquiry with the analysis software MAXQDA to provide a clearer picture of the experiences of Black former METCO and their perceptions of the impact of the METCO program on their lives. Results showed that although participants were very grateful for the post-secondary opportunities afforded to them by the METCO program, the racial experiences and the lasting mental health effects are significant enough in their lives that they would not send their children through the METCO program, given the chance. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of implications on future research, school and state policies, and teacher and parent education. Keywords: METCO, racial experiences, life outcomes, narrative inquiry research, critical race theory, critical feminist theory, phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory.

Drawing on critical feminist narrative inquiry, we explore illness narratives of women cancer survivors living in Southern Central Appalachia via a daylong story circle (n = 26) and individual interviews (n = 3). In our article, we argue that participants functioned as illness genealogists as a consequence of their central location in families, as well as their location in a place (Southern Central Appalachia) characterized by what we call “cohabitating morbidities.” We coined this term to represent the experiences of women survivors living with multiple, sometimes simultaneously occurring illness experiences in their family systems. Finally, we reveal and explore rules that guide their survivorship experiences and storytelling, contending that study participants preserve their central location within family systems by decentering their own survivorship experiences and stories.

Doctor of Philosophy / Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs / Christy D. Craft / BeEtta L. Stoney / The United States of America’s demographic population has shifted vastly to include a “new” multiracial growing population. Multiracial individuals are those who self-identify as two or more races, which now reflects a very young population. Higher education institutions are noticing an influx of more and more multiracial individuals, and many institutions are grappling with how to recognize and to support this growing population. Specifically, higher education institutions need to understand how multiracial graduate students think about their own racial identities and how they navigate their graduate school experiences. The purpose of this research was to gain a deeper understanding of multiracial graduate students’ lived experiences. There is an imperative to understand the daily experiences of multiracial graduate students to allow these students to retell the stories of their everyday lives in graduate school. The theoretical framework used to guide this study was critical race theory. Narrative inquiry methodology was the methodology chosen to focus on the unique voices and experiences of the participants in this study. Narrative analysis was employed to make meaning of the data retrieved from self-reflective writing samples and two semi-structured individual interviews with each of three participants. The findings from this research revealed the ever-present importance of racism and colorism and their impact on racial identity, the continued challenges of the campus climate experienced by multiracial students at a predominantly White institution (PWI), the impact and influence of religion at a PWI, and how multiracial students manage different types of relationships with peers and faculty. Implications for research and practice are provided as a result of the insights gleaned through this research about the lived experiences of three multiracial graduate students at one predominantly White higher education institution.