174: Dr. Larissa Malone, an Afro-Latina (Diverse Perspectives)

This summer, we are featuring stories from diverse perspectives in order to stir curiosity and compassion for others. While we don’t necessarily endorse every stated view, we stand by each guest as a fellow image-bearer and a human of inherent value. We invite you to listen with an open mind and open heart as you hear the pain, struggle, and triumph of other children of God.

Larissa Malone, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Social and Cultural Foundations of Education in the Watson College of Education at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). Before joining UNCW, she was an Associate Professor and Chair of the Teacher Education Department at the University of Southern Maine and an Assistant Professor at Greenville University. Dr. Malone earned a doctorate in Cultural Foundations of Education at Kent State University, a MA in Education from Walsh University, and a BA in International Studies from Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Malone also holds a primary teacher certification from the American Montessori Internationale and taught early childhood and early elementary grades, as well as served as an administrator in a bilingual community-based school, before joining the ranks of higher education. Dr. Malone’s research centers on the minoritized experience in schooling, inclusive of students, parents, and teachers, and has published in The Journal of Negro Education, Educational Studies, and The Journal of Critical Race Inquiry. She is particularly interested in the intersection of education, race, and tangential disciplines, such as religion, geography, social reproduction, critical race followership, and critical race mothering. Dr. Malone founded Maine Black Educators Collective, a grant-funded organization that holds the mission of supporting Black educators through educational opportunities, social-emotional connection, and advocacy, and received the inaugural Maine Education Association’s 2022 Human and Civil Rights Award for this initiative, as well as grants from the National Education Association Foundation, Maine Initiative's Grants for Change, and the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. Dr. Malone’s greatest joys are spending time with her family, playing/watching tennis, reading, and politics. Her calling in life is to create a more equitable world through the power of education.