Collaborative Autoethnography

It sounds like a paradox: How do you engage in autoethnography collaboratively? Heewon Chang, Faith Ngunjiri, and Kathy-Ann Hernandez break new ground on this blossoming new array of research models, collectively labeled Collaborative Autoethnography. Their book serves as a practical guide by providing you with a variety of data collection, analytic, and writing techniques to conduct collaborative projects. It also answers your questions about the bigger picture: What advantages does a collaborative approach offer to autoethnography? What are some of the methodological, ethical, and interpersonal challenges you’ll encounter along the way? Model collaborative autoethnographies and writing prompts are included in the appendixes. This exceptional, in-depth resource will help you explore this exciting new frontier in qualitative methods.

Heewon Chang, Ph. D., is a professor of multicultural education and organizational leadership at Eastern University in Pennsylvania, USA. After completing a bachelor’s degree in education at Yonsei University in South Korea, she came to the University of Oregon to pursue a Master’s and Ph. D. in educational anthropology under the tutelage of Dr. Harry Wolcott. She founded two open-access scholarly journals and currently serves the International Journal of Multicultural Education (www.ijme-journal.org) as Editor-in-Chief. She has authored/edited three books: Adolescent Life and Ethos: An Ethnography of a US High School (1992), Autoethnography as Method (2008), and Spirituality in Higher Education: Autoethnographies (2011, edited with Drick Boyd). Her research agenda includes qualitative research methods including autoethnography, leadership mentoring, educational equity and justice, multicultural education, and anthropology of education.

Faith Wambura Ngunjiri, Ed. D., is an associate professor of leadership studies and research methods at Eastern University, where she also serves as Director of Research at the Campolo College of Graduate and Professional Studies. She has a doctorate in leadership studies and master’s degree in organization development from Bowling Green State University, Ohio; a master’s degree in mission studies from Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology; and a bachelor’s degree in education (language and literature) from Kenyatta University in Kenya. Her research interests revolve around women and leadership, particularly studies on African women, servant leadership, spirituality and tempered radicalism. She also teaches and writes about culturally responsive research approaches. Her work has been published in Journal of Research Practice, International and Intercultural Communication Annual, Journal of Business Communication, Journal of Educational Administration, UCEA Review, Gendered Perspectives on International Development, and Journal of Pan African Studies. She is the author of Women’s Spiritual Leadership in Africa: Tempered Radicals and Critical Servant Leaders (SUNY 2010).

Kathy-Ann C. Hernandez, Ph.D., is an associate professor of quantitative research methods at Eastern University and the Director of Research for the Loeb School of Education. She earned her doctorate in educational psychology from Temple University in 2004 where she also worked as a research associate for the Center for Research in Human Development and Education. Her research is focused on the Black diaspora and the role of gender, spirituality, and class in identity formation and as a predictor of social and academic outcomes. She has written several book chapters and articles in line with her research interests and is a reviewer for a number of academic journals. She also served as a co-editor for a special issue of the Journal of Research Practice on autoethnography. She owns and manages Intelligent Solutions, an educational research consulting practice in Philadelphia.