HELLO, I'M
Gretchen N. Cook (she/her/hers)
Ph.D. in Cultural Studies in Education
Maryville College Academic Success Coach
Gretchen N. Cook, Ph.D.
Academic Success Coach
Maryville College
About
Gretchen N. Cook earned her Ph.D. in cultural studies in education in the Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education at The University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Her research interests fill three buckets— women teacher identity formation and patriarchal structures in charter schools, LGBTQ+ studies, and social justice education. She adopts the methodologies of autoethnography and ethnography with the aim to share her stories as a means of opening up vulnerabilities and to help others find connection to her experiences.
She carries her research with her as the Academic Success Coach at Maryville College. The classroom should be a place of joy and collaboration, and not rooted in outdated neoliberal ideologies. The norm should be that schools foster the whole student, while also making them feel included in culture making and as a part of the hierarchy and not at the bottom of it.
Prior to moving to east Tennessee, Cook earned a B.A. in journalism at Muskingum University and a M.A. in film and video production at The University of Memphis. She worked in documentary film, serving as the associate producer for "Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story", before earning a M.A.T. in elementary education from The University of Memphis. Before serving in higher education, she taught in charter schools, served as a dean of curriculum and instruction, and worked as an associate program consultant for The New Teacher Center. She resides in Alcoa with her husband Chris, two cats-- Maisy and Sanders, and two remarkable dogs-- Truman and Huckleberry.
Teaching Information
Maryville College, Maryville, TN
Academic Success Coach
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Instructor of Record
CSE 200: Survey of International Education
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the field of international education. It is designed to provide an overview of selected countries' educational systems. Students will conduct cross-cultural comparisons of various educational issues such as the role of teachers; students and parents; government roles in guiding curriculum selection; licensing teachers; covering the cost of education; and private education vs. public education. Students will consider the history and philosophies of education in selected countries.
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Fall 2020
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Spring 2021
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Fall 2021
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Spring 2022
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Fall 2022
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Spring 2023
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Fall 2023
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Spring 2024
College Success: Portfolio
This college success portfolio course is designed to help students, during their first semester at Maryville College, foster critical skills aimed at college-level academic success. Topics covered in this course include, but are not limited to note-taking skills, accountability practices, pre-reading strategies, task prioritization, time and priority management, collaborative learning strategies, self-regulated learning, academic self-sabotage, effective study techniques, increasing motivation, goal setting and decision making, critical thinking skills, stress management, academic success planning, and interpersonal skillsets.
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Fall 2024
Graduate Teaching Assistant
ESM 559: Introduction to Qualitative Research in Education
This course is designed to introduce graduate students to qualitative research. Students will engage in a variety of qualitative research designs including ethnography, phenomenology, narrative inquiry, grounded theory, and case studies. Additional introductions to qualitative methodologies in mixed methods, action, critical, and arts-based research are infused in the coursework. Students engage in real-world experiences with data collection, analysis, and reporting.
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Fall 2022
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CSE 300: Cultural Studies in Social Justice, Education, and Service Learning
This course provides students an opportunity to explore the nature and importance of historical roots and contemporary constructions of educational social justice issues and civic engagement opportunities. Additionally, this is an Academic Based Community Service or Service Learning course. As such, the course situates two equally important needs: the needs of the learner and needs of the community. The course involves student reflections that include personal and academic understandings of the importance of social justice. Assignments require the application of new knowledges and new skills in community work. Students will choose their own projects related to disciplinary, personal, and professional commitments. Through your choice of a critical service learning project, which will be a minimum of 15 hours, you will actively address issues of inequities using your everyday work experiences, course readings, past experiences, and class discussions to navigate the experience.
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Spring 2022
Publications
Refereed Publications
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Cook, G., & Anderson, A. (2023). “Oh, so you just want to teach?”: An Autoethnographic Account of One Traditionally Trained Teacher in a TFA-Hiring School. Critical Education, 14(4), 75-95.
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Cook, G. (2022). Book review: Animal Languages. Journal for Critical Animal Studies, 19(1), 79-84.
Currently Under Review
Cain, L. K., Denton, J. M., & Cook, G. N. (Revise and Resubmit). Entangling Silken Threads and Metamorphising Meaning: Using Life Story Narratives with Transgender Participants. Departures in Critical Qualitative Research.
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Conferences
Refereed Conference Presentations
Denton, J. M., Cain, L. K., & Cook, G. N. (November, 2024). Are the parents alright? Trans students' stories of parental and family support. Paper accepted for presentation at the 2024 Association for the Study of Higher Education's (ASHE) 2024 meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Cook, G. N. & Bublitz, S. R. (April, 2024). The Ship of Theseus: Unsilencing and methodological considerations when working with queer populations. Paper presented at the 2024 American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) 2024 meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Cain, L. K. & Cook, G. N. (April, 2024). “I’m passionate… and devastatingly sad:” Belonging and place for gender non-binary individuals within the U.S. Bible Belt. Paper presented at the 2024 American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) 2024 meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Cain, L. K. & Cook, G. N. (April, 2024). Considering quality in mixed methods research: The ‘Qualitative ‘Handmaiden’s’ tale. Paper presented at the 2024 American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) 2024 meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Cain, L. K. & Cook, G. N. (March, 2024). “We carry the ghosts of mountaintops in our bodies:” A Southern gothic narrative inquiry. Paper presented at the 2024 Appalachian Studies Association’s (ASA) 2024 annual meeting in Cullowhee, North Carolina.
Cain, L. K., Cook, G. N., Bradshaw, V., Paciello, J., & Vann, N. (May, 2023). Autoethnography and trauma—Mitigation or/and/of method? Paper presented at the 2023 International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry’s (ICQI) 2023 annual meeting in Urbana, Illinois.
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Cook, G. N., Cain, L. K. (May, 2023). “Everything would be okay:” Resisting and remaking the hidden rules for survival in a charter school. Paper accepted for presentation at the 2023 International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry’s (ICQI) 2023 annual meeting in Urbana, Illinois.
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Cook, G. N., Cain, L. K. (May, 2023). “The way we feel the burden:” Techniques for female teacher resiliency in the charter school setting. Paper presented at the 2023 International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry’s (ICQI) 2023 annual meeting in Urbana, Illinois.
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Cook, G. N., Cain, L. K. (May, 2023). Hawkins College—A place where “I can kind of be more myself”: A narrative case study of LGBTQ+ students attending college in the Bible belt. Paper presented at the 2023 International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry’s (ICQI) 2023 annual meeting in Urbana, Illinois.
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Cook, G. & Anderson, A. (April, 2023). “Oh, so you just want to teach?”: An autoethnographic account of one traditionally trained teacher in a TFA-hiring school. Paper presented at the 2023 American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) 2023 meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
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Cain, L. K., Cook, G. N., Tipton, J., & Bradshaw, V. (April, 2023). “Religious trauma out the wazoo,” Southern pride, and in/visible queerness in the Bible belt. Paper presented at the 2023 American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) 2023 meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
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Cook, G. (July, 2022). “Oh, so you just want to teach?”: An autoethnographic account of one traditionally trained teacher in a TFA-hiring school. Paper presented at the 2022 Tennessee Chapter of the National Association for Multicultural Education’s (TN NAME) 2022 meeting in Cookeville, Tennessee.
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Cook, G. (November, 2021). “Oh, so you just want to teach?”: An autoethnographic account of one traditionally trained teacher in a TFA-hiring school. Paper presented at the 2021 American Educational Studies Association’s (AESA) 2021 meeting in Portland, Oregon.
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Cook, G. (April, 2004). Fast times in the baseball dugout: Fantasy theme analysis in Amy Heckerling’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Paper presented at the 2004 Southern States Communication Association’s (SSCA) 2004 meeting in Tampa, Florida.
Explore Recent Presentations
Cook, G. N. & Bublitz, S. R. (April, 2024). The Ship of Theseus: Unsilencing and methodological considerations when working with queer populations. American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) 2024 meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Cain, L. K. & Cook, G. N. (March, 2024). “We carry the ghosts of mountaintops in our bodies:” A Southern gothic narrative inquiry. Appalachian Studies Association’s (ASA) 2024 annual meeting in Cullowhee, North Carolina.
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Cook, G. N., Cain, L. K. (May, 2023). Hawkins College—A place where “I can kind of be more myself”: A narrative case study of LGBTQ+ students attending college in the Bible belt. International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry’s (ICQI) 2023 annual meeting in Urbana, Illinois.
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Cook, G. & Anderson, A. (April, 2023). “Oh, so you just want to teach?”: An autoethnographic account of one traditionally trained teacher in a TFA-hiring school. American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) 2023 meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
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Cain, L. K., Cook, G. N., Tipton, J., & Bradshaw, V. (April, 2023). “Religious trauma out the wazoo,” Southern pride, and in/visible queerness in the Bible belt. American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) 2023 meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
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