Memory as Method: Black Epistemologies, Counterspaces, and Ancestral Inquiry in Qualitative Research

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 7:45 am - Gold 4

Session Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

This roundtable features scholars advancing Black epistemologies through methods grounded in memory, resistance, and ancestral presence. Papers include a critical analysis of Black History mandates using a palimpsest-informed framework, a study on Black STEM identity formation through focus groups and counterspaces, and a daughter-scholar’s methodological reclaiming of familial memory as data. Each work challenges dominant research paradigms by mobilizing culturally rooted ways of knowing—from metaphor and epistle to counterstorytelling and systemic critique. Together, these papers model qualitative inquiry that centers Black lives, affirms Black intellect, and reclaims personal, communal, and historical memory as rigorous and liberatory methodology.

Sub Unit

• Division D - Measurement and Research Methodologies / Division D - Section 3: Qualitative Methodologies

Chair

• Martha Clavelle, Grossmont College

Papers

• Black History as a Palimpsest: Honoring the Past–Liberating Present Mindsets - LaFrance A. Clarke, Independent Researcher

• Countering the Narrative: The Role of Research Methods in Examining Black STEM Possible Selves - Brandi Cannon-Force, Stanford University

• Daddy Lessons: Metaphor, Memory, and the making of a Daughter Scholar - Martha Clavelle, Grossmont College