Room 1: “Forgive the life you’ve lived”—Explaining Why Two Faculty and their Undergraduate Students co-edited Sharing Stories of Hope and Transformation in U.S. Higher Education: An eReader by Portland State University Studies (2024)

The presentation explains three main reasons why two Portland State University faculty from two disciplines (History and Comparative Literature)—and both teaching a first-year course called “Immigration, Migration, and Belonging”—co-edited an eReader with their undergraduate students (i.e., 1. to record students’ lived experiences as worthy of study, 2. disrupt notions in diverse students that they are a deficit in higher education; and 3. let diverse students see themselves in the struggles and achievements of their student peers). This eReader, Sharing Stories of Hope and Transformation in U.S. Higher Education: An eReader by Portland State University Studies, highlights stories of hope and transformation written by diverse students enrolled in University Studies, a general studies (i.e., essential studies) program. The eReader’s goal is to motivate first-year and transfer students to see that, in higher education, they are not alone in their personal, familial, and academic struggles—and personal, familial, and educational achievements. Finally, the presenters will describe the process of completing this open educational resource (i.e., gathering stories, editing them, and launching the eReader via in-person and Zoom book launches) and sharing it with the Portland State University community. The presentation is book-ended with student voices. The presentation will open with a brief excerpt reading by one of the book’s student co-authors. The presentation will end with the student co-author reflecting on what they learned from co-authoring this eReader.