Thinking in the Midst

Ginger Barnhart and Lauren Links sat down to talk with Cara about cultivating and sustaining graduate student communities and graduate students, finding and creating place together, and so much more.

A special thank you to those who proposed the GSC: Sara Hardman, Alex Nikolaidis, Dustin Webster, Addyson Frattura, Rebecca Sullivan, Ka Ya Lee, Kirsten Welch, and Annie Schultz.

Follow the PES GSC on IG: @pesgsc or tell us more about your research here. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQCiZYaEk6E_pWGfzQkVfVhXsvbc2ZLR6hMWBZCZWgYlh_lQ/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0

For more work by Lauren: "Natality and the Scholarly Life: Motherhood, Mentorship, and Disorientation" https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681261425297

Kathleen Knight-Abowitz gives the Presidential Address, the Value of Local Control: Place and Educational Governance delivered at the Philosophy of Education Society Annual meeting. This session is introduced by Sarah Stitzlein. Two paper responses are delivered by Clarence Joldersma and Campbell Scribner respectively. 

For more writing by Kathleen: 

For more work by Kathleen:

Knight-Abowitz, Kathleen and Dustin Hornbeck (2025).  “The right to invite and the right to decline: Parental rights in public schools,” Theory and Research in Education 23 (2), 1-21. ⁠https://doi.org/10.1177/14778785251351377⁠

Knight-Abowitz, Kathleen (2025). “Serving on a school board, 2019-2023: Strengths and vulnerabilities of a democratic institution,” AERA Open 11 (1), 1-17.  ⁠https://doi.org/10.1177/233285842513238⁠

For Sarah and Kathleen’s co-authored writing:

https://kappanonline.org/abowitz-stitzlein-public-schools-public-goods-and-public-work/

https://kappanonline.org/telling-new-stories-about-schools-reframing-narrative-shared-responsibilities-stitzlein-abowitz/ 

For more of Campbell’s writing: 

The Fight For Local Control: Schools, Suburbs, and American Democracy (Cornell, 2016)

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501700804/the-fight-for-local-control/

A is for Arson: A History of Vandalism in American Education (Cornell, 2023)

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501770722/a-is-for-arson/

Kathleen Knight Abowitz and Danny Mamlok sat down to talk with Cara about the upcoming Philosophy of Education Society conference themed on To Be Rooted in Place, Education, and Ethics. They shared insights into their current roles in the organization as president and program chair, and then dove into the conference theme.

For the program:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-2MXScBtQKMyUa4oH3pbjMueszv3dYOV/view

For more work by Danny:

Mamlok, Dan. 2023a. “The Quest to Cultivate Tolerance Through Education.” Studies in Philosophy and Education 42 (3): 231–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-023-09874-8.

Mamlok, Dan. 2023b. “The Quest to Cultivate Tolerance Through Education.” Studies in Philosophy and Education 42 (3): 231–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-023-09874-8.

Mamlok, Dan, and Kathleen Knight Abowitz. 2022. “132 Words: A Critical Examination of Digital Technology, Education, and Citizenship.” Technology, Knowledge and Learning 27 (4): 1237–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-021-09540-3.

For more work by Kathleen:

Knight-Abowitz, Kathleen and Dustin Hornbeck (2025).  “The right to invite and the right to decline: Parental rights in public schools,” Theory and Research in Education 23 (2), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/14778785251351377

Knight-Abowitz, Kathleen (2025). “Serving on a school board, 2019-2023: Strengths and vulnerabilities of a democratic institution,” AERA Open 11 (1), 1-17.  https://doi.org/10.1177/233285842513238

Michael Hand and Quentin Wheeler-Bell sat down to talk with Cara about teaching amidst strong divides. My guests discussed and debated how to address partisan leanings in the classroom, how to ethically support a range of student perspectives, what makes a topic controversial, and the criterion for judging the validity of a claim.

For Michael's article: https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.70065. 

The original article: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-5446.2008.00285.x. 

For more work by Michael:

Hand, M. (2026) ‘Is there a principled exception to the epistemic criterion of controversiality?’, in Drerup, J. (ed) Teaching Controversy: The Politics and Ethics of Classroom Conflict, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hand, M. (2018) A Theory of Moral Education, London: Routledge.

For Quentin's article:  https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.70074.

Jessica Fremland , Kali Simmons, Kat Milligan-McClellan, Mishuana Goeman, and Sandy Grande join Cara to talk about indigenous feminists philosophy, why gardening is a rich and fertile metaphor for their work, and tending to communities with care. This episode showcases the 75th Anniversary of Educational Theory.

For their paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/edth.70075

For Sandy’s original paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1741-5446.2003.00329.x

For the 75th Anniversary Issue: ​​https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17415446/2026/76/1

For more work by Sandy: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/red-pedagogy-9781610489881/

For more work by Kali: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/105/article/815922/pdf?casa_token=fLW8470Re8wAAAAA:HYVCaY0WobYaFqJwmoYQrK2yLqV_YLxhMXx234L88bCesCGrcCJRXs0YXuUkIwoZ-M2vZJBllsI

For more writing by Mishuana: https://poshmark.com/listing/Settler-Aesthetics-Visualizing-the-Spectacle-of-Originary-Moments-in-the-New-Wo-654af186af9ad15787384a86?srsltid=AfmBOopAJqQhoYrzY9aJyetAC-fAxe8cL17Q8s3sqjZKiVsrg77qY_Sl

https://www.upress.umn.edu/9780816677917/mark-my-words/

https://nyupress.org/9781479808120/keywords-for-gender-and-sexuality-studies/

Gert Biesta and Michele Moses join Cara to talk about philosophers, schools, and education. They ask us to consider what matters? The role of schools as places of inquiry? And how these and many more questions effect schools, teachers, and students at all levels? This episode showcases the 75th Anniversary of Educational Theory.

For Gert's essay:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/edth.70063

and original essay: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1741-5446.2006.00241.x

and more writing by Gert: https://www.routledge.com/World-Centred-Education-A-View-for-the-Present/Biesta/p/book/9780367565527

For Michele's essay: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/edth.70073?af=R

For more of Michele's work on higher education: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/L/bo22776687.html

For the full special issue: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/edth.70076

Gert and Michele join Cara to talk about philosophers, schools, and education. They ask us to consider what matters? The role of schools as places of inquiry? And how these and many more questions effect schools for students at all levels. This episode showcases the 75th Anniversary Issue of Educational Theory.

For Gert's essay: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/GRUNEBTCKSH3HUNKAFYJ?target=10.1111/edth.70063

and the original essay: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/ENHTUNKEQPYRUCREP48Z?target=10.1111/j.1741-5446.2006.00241.x

For more writing by Gert: https://www.routledge.com/World-Centred-Education-A-View-for-the-Present/Biesta/p/book/9780367565527

For Michele's essay: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/KTCZPEJBTJIYGDPZHRHM?target=10.1111/edth.70073

For more of Michele's work on higher education: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/L/bo22776687.html

For the full issue: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/5X7H8HYYI96ETD9NWASP?target=10.1111/edth.70076

Anmarie Paul, Diane Schnoor, and Myra Hernandez join Cara to talk about belonging, place, and children's literature.

To learn more about Behind the Book check out: https://www.behindthebook.org/

To learn more about Dr. Diane's work check out: https://www.drdianeadventures.com/

Philip Francis, Tom Van Winkle, and Rachel Seher join Cara to talk about place as school and what it means to build a relationship with places and the people in them.

Seguinland Institute is currently accepting applications for its Spring '26 and Fall '26 semester programs: Check them out and Philip's here!

Check out Rachel's work here and here!

Check out Tom's work and Williams Mystic here!

Gil Burgh and Mara Tieken sat down to talk with Cara about what place-responsive and place based education could be. They contrasted this with schools where learning is removed from the environment, and schools that even make this removal part of the educational goal.

To learn more about this year's philosophy of education conference: https://www.philosophyofeducation.org/

To learn more about this topic from Gil, check out: https://www.routledge.com/Teaching-Democracy-in-an-Age-of-Uncertainty-Place-Responsive-Learning/Burgh-Thornton/p/book/9780367565091

To learn more about this topic from Mara, check out:

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/E/bo247751497.html