Term of Award
Spring 2025
Degree Name
Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies (Ed.D.)
Document Type and Release Option
Dissertation (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Department
College of Education
Committee Chair
Sabrina Ross
Committee Member 1
Ming Fang He
Committee Member 2
John Weaver
Committee Member 3
Nick Norwood
Abstract
The concept of literary homeplace serves as a locus of rhetorical healing for Black women, emphasizing their lived experiences and creative expressions as forms of resistance and restoration (Collins, 1986; hooks, 1990; Nettles, 2001). The labor of Black women within families, churches, and artistic endeavors contributes to the cultivation of a collective consciousness surrounding oppression and healing (Edwards, 2010; Carey, 2016; Morrison, 1992). Building upon hooks’ (1990) notion of homeplace, this dissertation examines how Black women foster spaces characterized by care, dignity, and resilience (Hersey, 2022; Tate, 1984). Using personal narrative and articulating Black women’s voices, I position homeplace as an epistemological refuge wherein knowledge is collaboratively created and transmitted (Moll et al., 1992; Gay, 2000). I argue that storytelling and creative writing serve as instruments of rhetorical healing, transforming trauma into empowerment and agency (Lorde, 1984; Bambara, 1970; Sanchez, 1973). I advocate for expanding research methods to encompass personal narratives and creative works (Baszile, 2017; Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). In challenging academic conventions that prioritize objectivity, I assert that the embodied knowledge of Black women must occupy a central role within Curriculum Studies (Crenshaw, 1991; Collins, 2000; Carey, 2016). By emphasizing the centrality of Black women and their epistemological perspectives, I discovered that establishing Black women’s knowledge within educational contexts necessitates the undertaking of emotional and intellectual labor. This process is akin to childbirth, which demands significant endurance and great pain, ultimately leading to transformation. Furthermore, I have discovered that Black women serve not only as curators of homeplace but embody the very essence of homeplace itself. This piece calls for a reimagining of educational frameworks that thoroughly incorporate the voices of Black women as central to the production of knowledge (Tate, 1984; Morrison, 1992; Hersey, 2022). I affirm literary homeplace as a crucial site for rhetorical healing and transformative scholarship.
Recommended Citation
Hassell, S. (2025). "Literary homeplace as a site of knowing and healing (Doctoral dissertation)." Georgia Southern University. Georgia Southern Commons.
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
Included in
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Educational Methods Commons, English Language and Literature Commons, Fiction Commons, Higher Education Commons, Higher Education and Teaching Commons, Language and Literacy Education Commons, Secondary Education and Teaching Commons, Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education Commons
