School of Education

Courtney Parker West

Credentials: Ed-GRS Fellow

Courtney Parker West (she/her/hers) is a fourth-year PhD student in Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis who has spent the past 15 years working in public education, education non-profit, community and institutional organizing, and intersectional anti-racist DEI (diversity, equity, & inclusion) consulting in rural eastern North Carolina. She is interested in the intersection of race, gender & sexuality, religious affiliation, and the impact of colonization and white supremacy on how educators of color heal from trauma and sustain themselves in their work as educators, advocates, and leaders in their communities, particularly in light of anti-CRT, anti-LGBTQ legislation. Additionally, Courtney is interested in exploring lessons learned, cautionary tales, and a sense of yearning in Star Trek as it pertains to racial realism, speculative fiction, and the Black radical imagination and exploring what’s possible for public education. Courtney seeks to leverage podcasting and intergenerational storytelling in community-based research and narrative inquiry to expand how we build bridges between and among community members and institutional agents pursuing policy changes.

Prior to her professional work, Courtney attended the University of Iowa and graduated with honors as a first-generation college student with degrees in Religion Studies (with a focus on Judaism), English (with a focus on Black American literature), Creative Writing and a minor in African American Studies. Her undergraduate thesis focused on the portrayal of Black men in Vietnam War films and the impact of Black-led religious civil rights movements advocating for the end of the Vietnam war. She has a certificate in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa Undergraduate Writers’ Workshop and is a freelance writer whose work has been published in Huffington Post, Quartz, Daily Dot, and Catalogue Magazine.

Courtney is most passionate about intersectional, cross-generational anti-racist work, coalition-building, and healing activism especially as it pertains to communities who have been subjected to multi-generational trauma and institutional exclusion. She is an opinionated introvert who loves wine, reading & reflecting, and watching Star Trek reruns.

Awards and Honors

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