University of Kentucky College of Education Assistant Professor Dr. Sharim Hannegan-Martinez has been selected for a National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) program. She is among 14 exemplary scholars from across the U.S. taking part in the NCTE Research Foundation’s 2022-2024 Cultivating New Voices Among Scholars of Color Fellowship.
“Dr. Hannegan-Martinez’s selection for this fellowship honors the impact she has been making as an early-career scholar. She is helping equip teachers with research-based interventions for young people experiencing trauma. As one of 14 scholars in the nation selected for this two-year program, it speaks volumes about the potential seen in her research career,” said UK College of Education Dean Julian Vasquez Heilig.
Hannegan-Martinez will receive two years of support, mentoring and networking opportunities. She will work closely with a mentor and other members of her cohort to investigate current issues in language, literacy, teacher education, English and cultural studies.
“It is an honor to have been selected to be a part of NCTE’s Cultivating New Voices Fellowship. I look forward to building community, and am grateful for the opportunity to be mentored by critical faculty of color whose research has deeply impacted my thinking, writing and imagining,” Hannegan-Martinez said.
Hannegan-Martinez’s teaching-informed research examines the relationship between loving pedagogies, literacy and student wellness, particularly as it relates to students of color. Her most recent study explores the pedagogy of loving relationships — cultivated in part by the literacy practices employed by teachers — as an intervention to traumatic stressors within the context of urban classrooms. This research has been recognized by the Ford Foundation’s Predoctoral and Dissertation Year fellowships.
Before pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of California, Los Angeles, Hannegan-Martinez was a high school English teacher in East Oakland and worked with pre-service teachers in the University of San Francisco’s Urban Education and Social Justice program. She is an assistant professor in the UK College of Education Department of Curriculum and Instruction.