Lakeya Omogun is a Ph.D. candidate in the Language and Literacy Studies Program in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at The University of Texas at Austin. Her hybrid identity as a Nigerian and African-American woman is reflected in her interdisciplinary approach to understanding how Black African immigrant youth narrate themselves through linguistic and literacy moves while living in the United States.
Her dissertation research documents how six Nigerian immigrant youth employ language and literacy practices across their Central Texas homes, communities, and digital spaces to construct, negotiate, and imagine identities for themselves. Utilizing ethnographic and narrative analysis approaches, her project draws on postcolonial and raciolinguistic theories to produce knowledge for literacy researchers and educators to recognize and support the unique identities and diverse range of language and literacies of all youth. She envisions her research as a contribution that could further dismantle monolithic and homogenous representations of immigrant youth in U.S. schools.
Her work has been published in Journal of Literacy Research, Teachers College Record, and Texas Education Review. She has a forthcoming co-authored piece in Journal of Research in Childhood Education. Lakeya is a former literacy teacher, a McNair Scholar, and a NCTE Cultivating New Voices Among Scholars of Color Fellow (2020-2022 cohort). She holds a BA in Elementary Education from Michigan State University and an MA in Literacy Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Allison Skerrett (Supervisor)
Focuses on secondary English and literacy education in urban contexts, including among transnational youth.
Grace Kim (Committee Member)
Studies literacy, language, and multicultural education, especially involving new media and globalization.
Melissa Wetzel (Committee Member)
Focuses on how preservice teachers integrate critical literacy and culturally relevant practices into field-based literacy teaching.
Jo Worthy (Committee Member)
Teaches classes on literacy development, research, and pedogogy, with an interest in alternatives to ability grouping.
Professional Development Team, Graduate Student Representative, American Educational Research Association (AERA-K)(2018 - 2020)
Senior Co-Chair, Doctoral Student Innovative Community Group, Literacy Research Association(2017 - 2020)
Student Representative, Doctoral Advisory Board, Language and Literacy Studies Program (UT-Austin College of Education)(2016 - 2018)
Skerrett, A.. & Omogun, L.. (2020). When racial, transnational, and immigrant identities, literacies, and languages meet: Black youth of Caribbean origin speak. Teachers College Record, 122(13). https://www.tcrecord.org/Articles.asp.
Wetzel, M., Vlach, S., Svrcek, N., Steinitz, E., Omogun, L., Salmerón, C., Batista-Morales, N., Taylor, L. & Villarreal, D. (2019). Preparing teachers with sociocultural knowledge in literacy: A literature review. Journal of Literacy Research, 51(2), 138–157. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1086296X19833575.
Omogun, L. (2019). A Black immigrant narrative in Detroit city. Ethnic and Third World Literatures, 19, 23–24. https://www.dwrl.utexas.edu/orgs/e3w/volume-19-spring-2019/2019-general-section/lakeya-omogun-on-american-street.
Omogun, L. (2018). Immigrant student identities in literacy spaces. Texas Education Review, 6(2), 70– 81. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/68275.
Judith Wells Lindfors Endowed Graduate Fellowship, The University of Texas at Austin College of Education (2020)
Graduate Student Pre-Conference Travel Award, American Education Research Association (AERA) (2020)
Cultivating New Scholars Fellowship, National Council of Teachers of English (2020)
Austins Rising Star Winner, DivInc. Champions of Change Award (2020)
College of Education Continuing Fellowship, The University of Texas at Austin (2019)
Peabody Scholarship in Education, The University of Texas at Austin, College of Education (2019)
NYU Faculty First-Look Fellow, NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (2019 - 2020)
New Scholars Fellows Award, The University of Texas at Austin (2016 - 2019)
