LIBERATORY RESEARCH TEAMS LABS AND CO

In Liberatory Research Teams, Labs, and Collectives, Phelps-Ward, Brown, and Bankole provide guidance for research team leaders and members who aspire to facilitate research teams from a liberatory, human-centered, equitable perspective.

Whether leading a lab in chemistry or engineering, a research team in the humanities or fine arts, or research collectives and collaboratives in the social sciences (e.g., psychology, social work, education), the authors provide rich examples, checklists, and resources that facilitators and team members can begin using immediately to guide their everyday work. Through discussions on orienting research lab members and onboarding at the beginning of the text, to conversations about envisioned futures for research teams given the forecasted landscape of postsecondary education at the end of the text, this book contributes to the leadership, research methods, and graduate student development literature.

This text serves as a guide for those who desire a path to research team facilitation counter to how they may have been socialized in their terminal degree training, whether formally or informally, and aligned with values that center social justice and collective thriving. When the people on research teams thrive and succeed, so does the research, and ultimately, so does its broader impact in society.

Robin Phelps-Ward, Ed.D., is Associate Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Professor of Higher Education at Ball State University. A Black feminist higher education scholar, she has more than a decade of experience cultivating equitable environments through liberatory pedagogy, participatory research, and culturally relevant leadership.

Taryrn T. C. Brown, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida. Her research explores the intersections of gender, race, and class in the lives of Black women and girls, amplifying the voices of youth and communities in education through participatory action research.

Anuoluwapo T. Bankole, M.A., is a doctoral student in the Doctor of Higher Education program at Ball State University. Her research explores the experiences of women in the African diaspora within workplace contexts, focusing on the intersections of body image, size, compensation, and equity.