QUAL Lab
Introduction
The mission of the QUAL Lab is to bring together the diverse resources and collaborative efforts of the qualitative research program. The QUAL Lab further serves as a hub for outreach for innovative and emerging qualitative research and evaluation at the University of Georgia and beyond.Who We Are
The QUAL Lab is coordinated by faculty in the qualitative research program in the Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy:
- Kathy Roulston , professor
- Maureen Flint , associate professor
- Melissa Freeman , professor and director of graduate studies
- Giovanni Dazzo , assistant professor
- Pei-Jung Li , assistant professor
What We Do
The QUAL Lab hosts events and provides resources designed to build community around qualitative inquiry, support qualitative researchers, and share innovative qualitative scholarship taking place at UGA with broader national and international audiences.
Our activities include:
QUAL Lab Speaker Series: Our signature event series features innovative qualitative scholarship by alumni of UGA’s Interdisciplinary Qualitative Studies Graduate Certificate and affiliate faculty associated with the Qualitative Research Program.
Pedagogy brown bags: Informal gatherings that provide opportunities for qualitative research program faculty and affiliate faculty to exchange ideas, resources, and practices related to teaching qualitative research methods.
Qualitative research consultations: Individual consultations for UGA students, faculty, and researchers seeking support with the design and conduct of qualitative research.
Resources and outreach: Events, recordings, and other resources that make qualitative methodological scholarship and expertise available to audiences within and beyond UGA.
Past Events
The QUAL Lab has hosted speaker series, workshops, brown bags, and other events featuring qualitative researchers from UGA and beyond.
UGA IQS Speaker Series
2026
Writing Qualitatively: Qualitative Inquiry Summer Series
- Esther Ohito, Rutgers University
- Anani Vasquez, University of Arizona
2025
“Listening as a gift: What listening (still) has to offer qualitative inquiry”
- Susan Cannon, Department of Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies Education, UGA
“The home/work of academic mothers: Storying feminist and artful approaches to qualitative inquiry”
- Kelly Guyotte, University of Alabama
Speculative Feminist Methodologies: Qualitative Inquiry Summer Series
- Kelsey Benson, University of Wisconsin, Superior
- Paul Eaton, University of Alabama
- Laura Smithers, University of Nevada, Reno
“Cultivating ‘useless’ connections: Collaboration, community, and living theory”
- Jessica Van Cleave, Gardner-Webb University
“The possibilities and challenges of institutional ethnography: A close look at three African universities”
- Meseret Hailu, Institute of Higher Education, University of Georgia
2024
“Discovering Black existentialism: A qualitative journey”
- Edward Muhammad, Georgia Southern University
“Culturally disruptive research: Troubling the culture of science in qualitative methods”
- Lorien Jordan, University of South Florida
Narrative Approaches to Qualitative Inquiry Summer Series
- Joshua Cruz, Texas Tech University
- Kali Thompson, University of Lincoln
- Eleanor Mehta, St. John’s University
- Janie Copple, Georgia State University
“Miles away, but in our own backyard: A participatory action study examining relationships between historically white institutions and Black communities
- Roshaunda Breeden, North Carolina State University
2023
“Exploring possibilities and realities: Janjancoule, the becoming qualitative research methodologist”
- Janice Fournillier, Georgia State University
“Finding me in we: COVID, qualitative inquiry and the necessity of community”
- Ginny Boss, Department of Counseling and Human Development Services, UGA
“Temporalities in/of ethnography: queer(ing) time in studying school literacy and language practices”
- Ryan Schey, Department of Language and Literacy Education, UGA
“Queer(ing) (Dis)comfort and vulnerability in qualitative research”
- Stephanie Anne Shelton, University of Alabama
2022
“In defense of democratic qualitative research teams in the neoliberal academy”
- Amy Stich, McBee Institute of Higher Education, UGA
- Collin Case, McBee Institute of Higher Education, UGA
- Kanler Cumbass, Education Strategy Group
2020
“Q Methodology: A Missing Mixed Methods Research Methodology”
- Lloyd Rieber, Department of Workforce Education and Instructional Technology, UGA
“Navigating the Trials of Team-Based Qualitative Research” (canceled)
- Amy Stich, Institute of Higher Education, UGA
2019
“Morita and Kaizuka in 2002 and 2015: A diachronic video analysis of two Japanese preschool teachers”
- Joe Tobin, Department of Educational Theory and Practice, UGA
“Social media and qualitative inquiry: A field-tested example using Reddit”
- Mary Caplan, School of Social Work, UGA
“Identifying the community cultural wealth of Black science students through participatory action research”
- Darris Means, Department of Counseling and Human Development Services, UGA
Panel on phenomenology
- Melissa Freeman, Department of Educational Theory and Practice, UGA
- A. Edward Muhammad, Georgia Southern University
- Hilary Hughes, Department of Educational Theory and Practice, UGA
- Joseph Pate, Young Harris College
“Connections and crossroads: A community-based participatory research project”
- Denise Lewis, Department of Human Development and Family Science, UGA
“Reading the new and old materialisms and empiricisms”
- Elizabeth St. Pierre, Department of Educational Theory and Practice, UGA
Visiting scholars
2019
Meet and greet
- Kakali Bhattacharya, University of Florida
“Working with ‘failed’ interviews: Towards a reflexive-interactionist interview research”
- Diana Cichecki, Institute for Sociology, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg
- Judith Eckert, Institute for Sociology, Technical University of Darmstadt
2017
“Research colloquium: Higher education, inquiry, and the government of things”
- Aaron Kuntz, University of Alabama
2010
“The state of qualitative research: A conversation”
- Patti Lather, The Ohio State University