Leia K Cain
Biographic Data
| ID | 6555815 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Leia K Cain |
| GIVEN NAMES | Leia K |
| FAMILY NAME | Cain |
| SIGNATURE | CAIN L K |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Tennessee at Knoxville |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1302-8614 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 4 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Guided by Starlight
Queer women in Appalachia navigate a unique intersection of regional, gender, and sexuality-based identities, yet their stories of resilience and resistance are often overlooked in discussions of place and identity. This study centers on queer women who choose to remain in Appalachia for their university education rather than migrating to areas with more affirming cultural climates. Understanding why they stay—and how they resist societal pressur…
Against all odds – black, female, engineer
Purpose This paper aims to analyze the complex influences of imposter syndrome and colorism on Tanya Smith Foreman’s educational and professional trajectories in STEM as a Black female first-generation college graduate. The authors use personal vignettes to illustrate her nuanced experiences from childhood, through school and to her career, highlighting not only the challenges she faced but also the resilience required to navigate and overcome sy…
Entangling Silken Threads and Metamorphizing Meaning
In this article, we explore the usefulness of adapting McAdams’s (2008b) life story narrative method in conducting research with transgender participants in a previous study. We utilize one participant’s story to demonstrate our ability to understand the contextual supports he pulled upon in order to positively impact his gender transition. Through this method, not only were we able to better understand the participant’s experiences and perspecti…
The Hawkins bubble”
“It Felt Like a Little Community”
Students from rural Appalachian regions often face increased career development barriers within university spaces. As part of an NSF-funded program, we provided diverse, structured supports for a group of STEM majors from rural Appalachian backgrounds. We utilized narrative inquiry to interview 10 Program participants, which allowed us to explore which supports they described as impactful, including graduate student mentors, their fellow program …
Dueling Reflexivities
We wrote and performed this script as part of ICQI’s 2019 conference. This reader’s theatre production allowed us to share our experiences as a faculty member and student in a doctoral Introduction to Qualitative Research Course, in which a reflexivity assignment created a lot of tension and anxiety for the student who has multiple marginalized identities. We hope that by sharing this story, faculty of qualitative methods can be more aware of pot…
Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road
We wish we could say that legal and cultural advances in the United States had lessened the need for critical qualitative scholarship focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Unfortunately, such studies are as urgent—possibly more so—as ever. As of August 2023, the American Civil Liberties Union (2023) was tracking 492 bills across the United States that were written specifically to limit or deny rights of LGBTQ p…
Creating Queer Epistemologies and Embodied Knowledge Through Narrative and Arts-Based Research
Queer people historically shared personal and queer tales, recounted stories of queer joy to maintain hope, and whispered warnings through anecdotes of hardship. Further, queer artists contributed to the shaping of social trends and values through their creations. In this article, we explore how blending the practices of storytelling and artmaking can provide a powerful way to conduct research, co-construct knowledge, and sit within complex epist…
Examining trans student narratives of transitioning while in college
We collected narratives from five undergraduates who identified as either in the process of or had formerly transitioned from one gender to another while enrolled in a postsecondary institution. We used a narrative life story protocol to explore the greater context of participants as individuals. Participant stories focused on: the importance of relationships including roommates, friends, romantic partners, and role models; their experiences duri…
Re/Conceptualizing In/Visibility
In this article, I explore the dualism of visible–invisible (henceforth referred to as in/visibility) as a spectrum while utilizing autoethnographic accounts to contextualize my personal experiences traveling through liminal identity spaces. I embrace my in/visible identities as a queer woman in a society entrenched in heteronormativity, a disabled individual whose disability is not always visible, and an assistant professor who carefully navigat…
Stranded at the intersection of gender, sexuality, and autism
In this study we examine the life story of Gray, an individual who identifies as having both a non-binary gender identity and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We argue that Gray’s story of transitioning from female to male and then detransitioning to a non-binary identity is unique and presents a counter to the more typical stories of transitioning individuals. We utilized a life story narrative protocol with an intersectional theoretical framewor…
Bisexuality in education
Reviewed by Leia K. CainUniversity of South Florida, Educational and Psychological Studies, Tampa, FL, USABisexuality in education: Erasure, exclusion, and the absence of intersectionality is a col
Stranded at the intersection of gender, sexuality, and autism
In this study we examine the life story of Gray, an individual who identifies as having both a non-binary gender identity and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We argue that Gray’s story of transitioning from female to male and then detransitioning to a non-binary identity is unique and presents a counter to the more typical stories of transitioning individuals. We utilized a life story narrative protocol with an intersectional theoretical framewor…
Bisexuality in education
Reviewed by Leia K. CainUniversity of South Florida, Educational and Psychological Studies, Tampa, FL, USABisexuality in education: Erasure, exclusion, and the absence of intersectionality is a col
Stranded at the intersection of gender, sexuality, and autism
In this study we examine the life story of Gray, an individual who identifies as having both a non-binary gender identity and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We argue that Gray’s story of transitioning from female to male and then detransitioning to a non-binary identity is unique and presents a counter to the more typical stories of transitioning individuals. We utilized a life story narrative protocol with an intersectional theoretical framewor…
Re/Conceptualizing In/Visibility
In this article, I explore the dualism of visible–invisible (henceforth referred to as in/visibility) as a spectrum while utilizing autoethnographic accounts to contextualize my personal experiences traveling through liminal identity spaces. I embrace my in/visible identities as a queer woman in a society entrenched in heteronormativity, a disabled individual whose disability is not always visible, and an assistant professor who carefully navigat…
“It Felt Like a Little Community”
Students from rural Appalachian regions often face increased career development barriers within university spaces. As part of an NSF-funded program, we provided diverse, structured supports for a group of STEM majors from rural Appalachian backgrounds. We utilized narrative inquiry to interview 10 Program participants, which allowed us to explore which supports they described as impactful, including graduate student mentors, their fellow program …
Dueling Reflexivities
We wrote and performed this script as part of ICQI’s 2019 conference. This reader’s theatre production allowed us to share our experiences as a faculty member and student in a doctoral Introduction to Qualitative Research Course, in which a reflexivity assignment created a lot of tension and anxiety for the student who has multiple marginalized identities. We hope that by sharing this story, faculty of qualitative methods can be more aware of pot…
Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road
We wish we could say that legal and cultural advances in the United States had lessened the need for critical qualitative scholarship focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Unfortunately, such studies are as urgent—possibly more so—as ever. As of August 2023, the American Civil Liberties Union (2023) was tracking 492 bills across the United States that were written specifically to limit or deny rights of LGBTQ p…
Creating Queer Epistemologies and Embodied Knowledge Through Narrative and Arts-Based Research
Queer people historically shared personal and queer tales, recounted stories of queer joy to maintain hope, and whispered warnings through anecdotes of hardship. Further, queer artists contributed to the shaping of social trends and values through their creations. In this article, we explore how blending the practices of storytelling and artmaking can provide a powerful way to conduct research, co-construct knowledge, and sit within complex epist…
Examining trans student narratives of transitioning while in college
We collected narratives from five undergraduates who identified as either in the process of or had formerly transitioned from one gender to another while enrolled in a postsecondary institution. We used a narrative life story protocol to explore the greater context of participants as individuals. Participant stories focused on: the importance of relationships including roommates, friends, romantic partners, and role models; their experiences duri…
The Hawkins bubble”
Entangling Silken Threads and Metamorphizing Meaning
In this article, we explore the usefulness of adapting McAdams’s (2008b) life story narrative method in conducting research with transgender participants in a previous study. We utilize one participant’s story to demonstrate our ability to understand the contextual supports he pulled upon in order to positively impact his gender transition. Through this method, not only were we able to better understand the participant’s experiences and perspecti…
Guided by Starlight
Queer women in Appalachia navigate a unique intersection of regional, gender, and sexuality-based identities, yet their stories of resilience and resistance are often overlooked in discussions of place and identity. This study centers on queer women who choose to remain in Appalachia for their university education rather than migrating to areas with more affirming cultural climates. Understanding why they stay—and how they resist societal pressur…
Against all odds – black, female, engineer
Purpose This paper aims to analyze the complex influences of imposter syndrome and colorism on Tanya Smith Foreman’s educational and professional trajectories in STEM as a Black female first-generation college graduate. The authors use personal vignettes to illustrate her nuanced experiences from childhood, through school and to her career, highlighting not only the challenges she faced but also the resilience required to navigate and overcome sy…
Sociology (8 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Gender Studies (5 works) · Narrative (5 works) · Political science (5 works) · Aesthetics (4 works) · Art (4 works) · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy (4 works) · Queer (4 works) · Computer Science (3 works)