UMD doctoral student Autumn Griffin, second from left, with co-presenter and UIUC doctoral Melanie Kirkwood, conference coordinator and UGA doctoral Stephanie Tolliver, and University of Pennsylvania assistant professor Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas.

TLPL Doctoral Student Autumn Griffin Receives Grant to Present Research in Georgia

UMD doctoral student Autumn Griffin with Elizabeth Eckford, one of the members of the Little Rock Nine, who was a speaker at the conference.

Autumn Griffin, a second-year doctoral student in Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership, received a Jacob K. Goldhaber Travel Grant to present her research in Georgia.

During the Journal of Language and Literacy Conference at the University of Georgia in Athens on Feb. 3-4, 2018, Griffin and Melanie Kirkwood, a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, gave a presentation called “Black Girl in Om: A Virtual Ethnography of Black Women’s Self Care Practices in Digital Spaces.” Their presentation discussed their findings surrounding a virtual ethnography exploring the formation and development of Black women’s digital communities.

Griffin’s research in the College of Education’s Language, Literacy, and Social Inquiry program focuses primarily on the literacy practices of Black women and girls and the representation of Black children in Common Core-recommended literature.

“Autumn's research on Black girls' digital literacies is inspiring, and I have no doubt that her work was well-received at the JoLLE conference,” said Dr. Jennifer Turner, an associate professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership, and Griffin’s advisor. “I am so proud that Autumn has received a Goldhaber Award from the Graduate School in recognition of her scholarship.”

Graduate students at UMD are eligible to apply for the grants, which are intended to help defray the expenses related to travel for scholarly, scientific, or professional conferences to present papers, posters, or other scholarly material.

“UMD and TLPL have prepared me for many opportunities academically, but it is often challenging to meet the fiscal demands of graduate school,” Griffin said. “Without the Goldhaber Award, I would not have been able to attend the conference — despite the acceptance of my research proposal — and could have potentially missed the opportunity to share my work with colleagues and perhaps future employers.”