Department Member, Morgridge College of Education
Thesis Title: Experiences of Columbine Parents: Finding a Way to Tommorrow
About
Carolyn L. Mears holds a research appointment and is dissertation advisor and adjunct faculty at the University of Denver (DU). She serves on the Expert Council of Firestorm Solutions, an organization dedicated to risk mitigation and crisis recovery, is a member of the Advisory Board of the Trauma Certification Program at DU's Graduate School of Social Work, and is on the Advisory Board of LifeStitches, a program that assists HIV/AIDS-infected women in Uganda with the goal of "one mother, one child, one chance."
As an educator and parent whose son was a student at Columbine High School at the time of the shootings, Carolyn conducted research into the impact of the tragedy on parents and families. Her dissertation, Experiences of Columbine Parents: Finding a Way to Tomorrow, received the Outstanding Qualitative Dissertation of the Year award from the American Educational Research Association in 2005.
She has published numerous articles and presented to a variety of audiences in the U.S., Europe, and Australia, on such topics as trauma response and recovery, school safety, leadership in times of crisis, research among traumatized populations, and organizational change.
Her recent publication, Interviewing for Education and Social Science Research: The Gateway Approach, was selected by the American Educational Research Association as a finalist for the Outstanding Qualitative Book of the Year Award 2010. This book introduces her innovative approach to research, using strategies adapted from oral history and educational criticism to traverse the boundaries of human experience and bring to light matters of concern to education and social science researchers. This narrator-centered method, a by-product of her investigation into the aftermath of the Columbine tragedy, provides a means for researchers to access the often hidden human responses and perceptions about an event or situation so that others can better understand. It is a way to document life experience as well as to help those who make decisions and write policy become better informed about the true impact of their actions on the individuals involved.
Currently Dr. Mears is completing a text entitled, Reclaiming School in the Aftermath of Trauma: Advice Based on Experience. This book, constructed as an anthology, is designed to help educators, administrators, and college faculty and staff plan instruction and environments to meet the special needs of students who have experienced trauma. Contributors will share their experiences and advice in getting schools and universities back to the business of education after disaster has struck. In addition, interviews with students in these settings further inform the narrative. The text is scheduled for publication by Palgrave Macmillan in 2012.
