Racial Dimensions of Life Writing in Education

<p class=ql-align-justify>This collection presents life writing projects that explore or represent the racial dimensions of life writing research in diverse educational spaces using diverse methodologies and inquiry approaches. We believe this collection is long overdue. To quote Melva R. Grant and Signe E. Kastberg's succinct phrasing (this volume) racialized inquiry matters. While some rich texts explore the racial aspects and anti-racist potential of social science research (Blee 2018; Lopez & Parker 2003; Sefa Dei & Johal 2005; Twine & Warren 2000) and include examples from educational contexts there are no collections which focus on the intersections of life writing inquiry as educative projects that highlight racial dimensions of the work and lives under study. Drawing from Toni Morrison's enduring wisdom a visionary writer whose work has explored the racial dimensions of culture and lived experience we centralize race in life writing in this collection rather than obscuring it or leaving it as a lurking absent presence in the craft.</p><p class=ql-align-justify> </p><p><em>Racial Dimensions of Life Writing Research </em>offers a wealth of ideas and perspectives from which scholars teachers and students can draw to support their work. The 14 chapters in this collection attend to national international and local concerns include varied theoretical and methodological approaches and reflect a range of ethnic and racial heritages. Chapters consider practical theoretical ethical and educational issues involved in projects concerning under-represented educational actors important for the terrain of life writing. The authors include established and emerging scholars- university researchers directors and professors academic advisors graduate and undergraduate students activists and former elementary and secondary school teachers. It is our hope that this volume will spark conversation debate and reflection and will be a valuable resource that inspires scholarship about how race and its intersections shape the life-writing inquiry process.</p>