phd

Program Information 

PhD in Education, George Mason University

Concentration: Higher Education

I am in the coursework phase of my program and have passed Portfolio III (equivalent of comprehensive/qualifying exam). While my PhD does not include formal specializations beyond the concentration, areas I've focused on during my coursework include:

• the role of librarians in the classroom,

• the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL),

• alternative methods of scholarly communication,

• technology in higher education, and

• qualitative research methods.

Currently (Fall 2025)

This semester is my final semester of coursework. I am taking:

• EDRS 814: Anti-Colonial Methodologies

• HE 897: Librarians' Engagement in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (directed reading)

After completing my coursework this semester, I will officially advance to candidacy.

Upcoming (Spring 2026)

In the spring, I plan to defend my dissertation proposal and formally enter the dissertation writing process.

Dissertation Research (tentative)

My dissertation research is tentative until I successfully defend my dissertation proposal, but I currently intend on completing a three-manuscript dissertation with an overarching theme of librarians' sense of teaching community. Those three manuscripts are planned to include:

• a phenomenology studying librarians' experiences building teaching community,

• a case study of an information literacy curricular partnership between librarians and faculty, and

• a literature review bringing together the fields of library instruction and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).