Award Winners

Building an Anti-Racist GSE

In recognition of the lack of both anti-racist methodological training and introduction to anti-racist literature offered by GSE and CEPA, students have organized a group to:

1. Explore anti-racist methodologies.
2. Review literature on Critical Theory and other forms anti-racist theory.
3. Actively work at promoting anti-racist practices within the GSE and CEPA.

We engage in conducting syllabus consultations with faculty, in order to inform faculty of the diversity of their current syllabi and provides services to help them incorporate more voices into their coursework, and disseminating resources (such a books or guides) for faculty and/or students to inform their own research practices and perspectives.

CATE: Critical Approaches to Teacher Education

Critical Approaches to Teacher Education (CATE) will provide a space for graduate students to explore critical approaches to preservice teacher education that center intersectional justice, racial literacy, and abolitionist pedagogies. Through a book club and speaker series, participants will engage in conversations to develop an understanding of critical approaches to teacher education in terms of pedagogy and program design; reflect on ways of implementing these approaches in our own practice; and build community with each other and critical teacher education scholars in and beyond Stanford.

CSBE: Critical Studies of Blackness in Education

The group on Critical Studies of Blackness in Education (CSBE) is an intellectual community specifically dedicated to understanding and developing applied solutions to embedded anti-Blackness in education. Graduate student members work collectively to reimagine educational futures drawing on Black diasporic and African intellectual traditions and understandings in ways that protect and uplift Black students. Leaning on the scholarly lineage of Black Studies and Black feminist epistemology, CSBE is a transdisciplinary space that sponsors workshops, writing groups, speakers, and collaborative knowledge production that disrupts anti-Blackness at all levels of education both locally and globally.

CHAT: Cultural Historical Activity Theory

The Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) in Education group’s mission is to provide a platform for dialogue between graduate students and faculty members drawing on CHAT in their research. Although CHAT is one of the most influential theories of human learning and development, there are very few opportunities for students to engage with the theory through graduate level courses within the GSE. We will host quarterly panels using a videoconferencing platform (such as Zoom) with CHAT scholars from different generations, both in and beyond Stanford. A subsequent online reading group will provide an opportunity for participants to continue to engage in collective learning of CHAT.

NICER: Neuroscience Inclusion Committee

The Neuroscience Inclusion Committee on Equitable Research (NICER) initiative is a community of researchers that meets regularly to examine equity issues in the behavioral and neurosciences specifically around participation, sampling, and generalizability. Each session will be led by an individual, pair, or group of students who will decide the topic and readings to be discussed at the session. During each session, our workshop group aims to discuss papers—empirical studies, reviews, or journal articles—collectively determined by the group that describes the practice of groups historically excluded from science and its subsequent impact on the field in general. Next, we aim to use these readings as a foundation for generating and interrogating ways to foster both active (e.g., tips on forging research partnerships) and passive (e.g., creating and hosting cognitive studies online) mechanisms to increase access to members of marginalized communities to engage in scientific, academic research. Lastly, the NICER initiative aims to culminate in organizing a student-led conference at the GSE to be executed in the Spring Quarter of 2023. The goal of this conference will be to invite members of the educational community outside Stanford (e.g., K-12 teachers, students, parents, school administrators) and allow scholars within the GSE community to share and discuss their work with this community. Additionally, we hope that some of the activities brainstormed from our sessions can be implemented during the conference to further foster a more inclusive GSE researching community.

Questioning the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Questioning the School-to-Prison Pipeline Series will offer GSE students and beyond a chance to investigate the interaction between schools and the American carceral system while considering our own assumptions and positions. We want to address a gap in the GSE course offerings and bring an ongoing conversation across all of our programs. Our focus lies in the support of justice-impacted youth. Over the course of the year, we will feature workshops, reading discussions, and experience panels to go beyond learning and into activation to change the system. 

Resilient 1st Gen

Resilient 1st Gen (R1G) is an intentional community-building effort to connect all self-identified first-generation graduate students, staff, faculty and allies within the Graduate School of Education and with other first-generation communities across Stanford. Our group defines first-gen students as the embodiment of intergenerational dreams. Our main goals are to foster a strong sense of belonging for the first-gen community in the GSE, to promote academic collaboration efforts and scholarship that celebrate our unique challenges with a compassionate conscious awareness, and to lay the foundational resources for the first-gen students that will come after us.

SAEN: Sociology and Education Network

SAEN is an interdisciplinary community of doctoral students in sociology of education from the GSE and School of Humanities & Sciences at Stanford. SAEN members meet several times per quarter to workshop research, talk about relevant issues in the field and foster interdisciplinary networking and professional development. We achieve this through research seminars, faculty guest speakers, and networking events.

The Literacy Collective

The Literacy Collective’s mission is to provide a forum for GSE graduate students currently conducting literacy-related research to engage with each other, faculty members, and the extant community on issues related to literacy. This forum will establish a network of seasoned and emerging scholars drawn together by shared interests to present and receive feedback on current literacy-related research projects during retreats aimed at workshopping current research; learn about and discuss research in the literacy field through quarterly literature forums aimed to grow knowledge of the landscape of noteworthy literacy scholarship; and, to meet and explore the scholarship of literacy experts both in and beyond Stanford in scholar panels aimed to foster knowledge of current areas and opportunities for literacy research.

Women of Color Collective

The Women of Color Collective (WoCC) is a student-led initiative that promotes visibility, collaboration, and community for gender marginalized scholars of color. With events ranging from workshops and community building gatherings to invited guest speakers, the WoCC seeks to foster robust academic and collegial exchange. We provide a platform for students in different academic areas and at various stages in their program trajectories to learn, collaborate, and build relationships with each other and to further enhance opportunities for collaborative learning.