Humanizing Grief in Higher Education

By showcasing asset-based approaches inspired by individual reflection, research, and experience, this volume offers a fresh and timely perspective on grief and trauma within higher education and illustrates how these approaches can serve as opportunities for hope and allyship. Featuring a broad range of contributions from scholars and professionals involved in educational research and academia, Humanizing Grief in Higher Education explores the varied ways in which students, scholars, and educators experience and navigate grief and trauma. Set into four distinct parts, chapters deploy personal narratives situated within interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research frameworks to illustrate how issues such as race, gender, socio-economic class, and politics intersect with experiences of personal and professional grief in the academy. A variety of intersectional fields of study - from positive psychology, counselling, feminist and queer theories, to trauma theory and disability studies - inform an interdisciplinary framework for processing traumatic experiences and finding ways to hope. These narrative explorations are positioned as key to developing a sense of hope amongst the grieving and those supporting them. This text will benefit researchers, doctoral students, and academics in the fields of Higher Education, teacher education, trauma studies, and mental health education. Those interested in positive and educational psychology, as well as grief counselling in adults, will also enjoy this volume. Finally, this collection serves as a companion for those who find themselves grappling with losses, broadly defined.

Nicole Sieben is Assistant Professor of Secondary English Education, Coordinator of the Graduate English Education Programs, and Director of the Graduate Education Programs at SUNY College at Old Westbury, USA. Stephanie Anne Shelton is Assistant Professor of Qualitative Research in the College of Education, and Affiliate Faculty Member in the Department of Gender and Race Studies at The University of Alabama, USA.

Chapter 1: Introduction: Intersecting Hope with Actionable Frameworks in the Academy: Allyhood in Grief Nicole Sieben and Stephanie Anne Shelton PART I: ALLYSHIP THROUGH WRITING AND LITERATURE Chapter 2: Changing Cultural Constructions of Grief through the Shared Story: Lessons from Disability Studies Margaret Rose Torrell Chapter 3: Agency in Writing: Managing Narratives of Trauma in Student Writing Danielle Lee Chapter 4: "Conceit Upon her Father": An Unintentional Confrontation with Grief and Hope in the English Classroom Adam Wolfsdorf Chapter 5: "The Grief that Fills One's Heart": Pairing Loss Narratives and Graphic Young Adult Literature Shelbie Witte and Jennifer S. Dail Chapter 6: Opening to the Hauntings of Grief and Mourning: Writing our Way towards Hope Linda Henderson and Alison L. Black PART II: COMMUNITIES OF HOPE AND HEALING Chapter 7: Opportunities Lost and Found: A Gay Educator's Grief and Process of Hope S. Adam Crawley Chapter 8: Finding Hope Through Hope Agents and Narratives in Times of Mourning Elsie Lindy Olan and Donita Grissom Chapter 9: Collaborative Empathy as a Pathway to Hope: Grief and Teacher Education Kia Jane Richmond and Cara Anderson Chapter 10: "Why I Hate the Wind": Magical Realism and Re-Presenting Trauma Christopher Worthman Chapter 11: It Is Contagious, Honey Katherine C. Brown PART III: GRIEVING FOR/WITH STUDENTS AND TEACHERS Chapter 12: Hiding Behind Closed Classroom Doors and Opening up Space for Sharing Grief Mandie B. Dunn Chapter 13: Designing "Patterns" after Hurricane Sandy Uproots Structures Josefa Pace Chapter 14: Grieving when Students Make the News: Two Teachers' Reflections Stacia L. Long Chapter 15: When a Teacher Lost a Student: A Narrative Pathway through Grief Nick Thompson Chapter 16: Grief as the Pathway to Hope in the Teaching Profession Leora Wolf-Prusan Chapter 17: How Experiences with Student Grief Inform Our Practice: Teaching Teachers to Navigate Healing Processes Katie Rybakova, Katahdin Cook Whitt, and Christina Christie PART IV: FINDING HOPE THROUGH ACTIVISM Chapter 18: My Father's Keeper: Pathway to Grief-Inspired Activism Ericka Roland Chapter 19: When the Music Changes, so does the Dance: Critical Racial Events as Told Through a Narrative Inquiry Beat Kara M. Taylor Chapter 20: Homeless Adolescents, Grief, and Advocacy for Others: Hope for the Future Kate Shands Haq Chapter 21: Visualizing Hope: Digital Storytelling with Refugee-background Children Toby Emert Chapter 22: Conclusion: Hope as an Ally to Grieving and Healing Nicole Sieben and Stephanie Anne Shelton