Roshaunda Breeden, an assistant professor in NC State’s College of Education, has been named an American College Personnel Association (ACPA) College Student Educators International Emerging Scholar Designee. 

Emerging Scholar Designees serve a two-year term and receive grant funding to support a research project during that time frame. Upon completion, they are awarded the title of Emerging Scholar. 

“This national recognition affirms the direction and impact of my work at a pivotal point in my career,” Breeden said. “I am especially honored to be included among a group of scholars whose work I deeply respect and admire. The award also provides critical support for my ongoing research, and I am grateful for the investment in both my scholarship and the communities I work alongside.” 

Breeden will use the award funding she receives to support a project entitled “Preserving Black History: The Untold Stories of Black Undergraduates Who Integrated Colleges and Universities in North Carolina.” Using archival research and oral histories, the project will document and preserve the experiences of the first students to desegregate campuses while informing future scholarship and practice. 

Breeden said one of the aspects of her work that she is most proud of is its roots in participatory action research and arts-based approaches. Her work ensures that communities are not simply the focus of a study, but are active collaborators who shape the research questions, methods and outcomes. And, by using creative formats such as visual storytelling, performance and exhibits, she is able to make her research more accessible, humanizing and impactful, she said. 

“These approaches allow communities to be heard, seen and honored as co-creators of knowledge. A commitment to rigor, to creativity, and to accountability sits at the heart of my scholarship,” she said.