About

Dr. Jennifer Friend is currently the Associate Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor in Educational Leadership, Policy & Foundations at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She is the Director of the Preparing Future Faculty online graduate certificate program and teaches graduate students interested in academic careers. Dr. Friend’s research focuses on educational leadership and issues of social justice in U.S. public education. She uses advanced technologies and digital video production techniques grounded in post-qualitative and arts-based inquiry to illuminate existing inequities in education. Recent publications have appeared in the open access International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research (IJLTER), the Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research (JULTR), the Journal of Research in Leadership Education (JRLE), and Educational Studies. Dr. Friend is the founder and co-chair of the annual University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Film Festival featuring short films that explore the landscape of quality leadership preparation, scholarship, policy, and practice.

Dr. Candace Schlein is an Associate Professor of Curriculum Studies in the Division of Teacher Education & Curriculum Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She is the Co-Editor of A Reader of Narrative and Critical Lenses on Intercultural Teaching and Learning (Information Age, In press). She serves as Conference Historian for Division B Curriculum Studies of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and as Conference Historian for the American Association for Teaching and Curriculum (AATC). She has also been involved in funded research on exemplary urban educators in Kansas City schools. Her work focuses on experiential curriculum; intercultural teaching and learning; diversity; and narrative inquiry. Her contribution to these fields has been recognized with membership to Professors of Curriculum of AERA, the Early Career Award of the Narrative Research Special Interest Group of AERA, and the Francis P. Hunkins AATC Distinguished Article Award in Teaching.