Laura Weiner (PhD student)

Thesis title: Constructing ‘Youth Activist Competency’ in an American Youth Activist Group Case Study

Biography

Background

I am a final year PhD candidate whose research explores how young activists construct the skills, knowledge, and values developed in youth activist groups in the US. Through this research, I aim to understand how a discourse of ‘youth competency’ is shaped and reflected in these informal learning spaces. My research draws on a range of disciplines, from education to sociology, and varied methods from participatory approaches to Critical Discourse Analysis. Part of my research has explored how the delineations between different disciplines, like youth development, civic education and social movement learning, can be understood as theoretical barriers in understanding informal learning withing youth activist group spaces.

I have been a research assistant on projects within and outwith Moray House and I have previously  tutored and supervised undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Edinburgh on MSc Social Justice and Community Action, MSc Education, Learning on Communities (MA Hons). I am currently a LEAPS Transitions course postgraduate tutor, and also was an EAL (English as an Additional Language) teacher and a youth worker before beginning my PhD.

Qualifications

MPhil Educational Research, University of Cambridge (2018-19): Awarded distinction on ‘Invisible Alternatives: The Shaping Effect of Quality Discourse in Philadelphia's Afterschool Youth Development Sector.’  Recipient of the Wolfson College’s Jennings Prize. 

BA Sociology and Archaeology, Oberlin College (2011-15): Recipient of the Comfort Starr Award in Sociology and the John F. Oberlin Scholarship.

 

 

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