A volume in Contemporary Perspectives on Access, Equity and Achievement
Series Editor Chance W. Lewis, University of North Carolina at Charlotte,
The purposes of this book are rooted in the move from invisibility to visibility and silence to voice. This work
uses autoethnography as an enterprise to break down traditional barriers that support the invisibility of diverse
epistemologies (Altheide & Johnson, 2011). The reality of invisibility and silence has plagued scholars of color
in their attempt to make known the cultural significance found in the planning and execution of research. As a
result, this book purposes to support the visibility and voice of scholars of color who conduct autoethnographic
research from a racial, gendered, and critical theoretical framework. This work further supports the research
community as it examines and reexamines culturally indigenous epistemologies as a viable vehicle for rigorous
and authentic inquiry (Dillard, 2000).
The significance of this book can begrafted from its attention to new ways of thinking about doing research.
While much of the previous scholarship on autoethnography highlights the importance of personal narrative and voice, this book includes the latter but
also examines the concept of race and culture as undisputable factors in the doing of research. Burdell & Swadener (1999) contends that
autoethnography should interrogate the subjective nature and question master narratives and empirical assumptions. Spry (2011) emphasizes
autoethnography as a moral discourse that foster intimate experiences grounded in historical processes. Authoethnographic research then, has the
potential to provide a lens by which researchers candelve into research with a greater sense of personal experiences and critical understanding of the
inquiry context.