Alex Poppendorf

Alexandria Poppendorf

I am an educational leadership doctoral candidate at the University of Calgary who is deeply passionate about place-based pedagogies and posthuman futures. With over 15 years of experience in educational leadership, I am a critical scholar who strives to shed light on inequities in our higher education places. My concerns include the systemic exploitation of international students and graduate workers, the commodification of knowledge by our institutions (e.g, for-profit publication, colonial themes inherent in funding practices, bullying and gift-giving within faculties, etc.), and oppression caused by monolithic understandings of knowledge. I'm a past GPESA president and currently serve as Vice President Academic for the Graduate Students' Association.

Alex Poppendorf's CV

Selected publications

Peer-Reviewed Articles
Poppendorf, A. (2021). The worldwide classroom: Promoting global literacy through English Education. Ehime Prefecture Education Journal.

Poppendorf, A. (2015). Storyville, Louisiana: Views of Prostitution and Sexuality in Turn of the 20th Century South, Theta-Delta 5, 21-30.

Poppendorf, A. (2014). Women and Gender Roles in the Antebellum South, Theta Delta 4, 18-28.

Book Chapters
Poppendorf, A. (in press). Making Meaning within Multiplicity: Coming to Know Bricolage and Research through the Research Journey. Peter Lang.

Articles under Review
Poppendorf, A. (2024) Artificial intelligence and education: A critical theoretical interrogation of a changing academic world. Emerging Perspectives Interdisciplinary Graduate Research in Education and Psychology, special issue.

Conference Papers
Poppendorf, A., Beaumie, K., Bastani, R., Gierus, B., & Clyde, J. “Narrative Engagement in Culturally Sustaining Learning: A Tale of Redesigning the Forbidden Island Board Game.” ISSE, Calgary, AB, Canada, August 1-3, 2024.

Clyde, J., Beaumie, K., Bastani, R., Poppendorf, A., & Gierus, B. “Game Design, Fictional Worlds, and Exploring STEM Across Disciplines in Formal and Informal Learning Spaces.” ISSE, Calgary, AB, Canada, August 1-3, 2024.

Poppendorf, A. “Redefining Educational Spaces: A Posthumanist Exploration of Place in Higher Education.” Tapestries of Learning, Calgary, AB, Canada. July 12-14, 2024.

Poppendorf A., Beaumie K., Bastani, R., Gierus, B., & Clyde, J. “Culturally Sustaining Game Redesign: Developing Criticality through Redesign of the Tabletop Game Forbidden Island.” ISLS, Buffalo, NY, USA, June 10-14, 2024.

Kim, B., Bastani, R., Gierus, B., Clyde, J., & Poppendorf, A. (2024, June). Redesigning tabletop games as a culturally sustaining pedagogy in Canadian middle school classrooms [Paper presentation]. International Society of Learning Sciences (ISLS) Conference 2024, Buffalo, NY.

Gierus, B., Kim, B., Bastani, R., Poppendorf, A., & Clyde, J. “Resilience and Passion Forged Through Culture and Autonomy: Redesigning Tabletop Games in Middle School.” ISLS, Buffalo, NY, USA, June 10-14, 2024.

Poppendorf, A. (2024). “Beyond Humanism: Posthumanism and its Implications for Education in the Anthropocene.” Roots on Routes: Environment, Identity, and Space, Western University, London, ON, Canada, March 21-23, 2024.

Poppendorf, A. (2024). “Cultivating an Abundant Academic Ecosystem: Rethinking Scarcity, Embracing Diversity, and Restructuring Higher Education.” Peer Beyond, Telus Spark, Calgary, AB, Canada, February 21-22, 2024.

Poppendorf, A. (2023). “Educable Posthumanisms: Environmental and Experiential Education for the Future,” Tapestries of Learning Symposium, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada, March 22-24, 2023.

Poppendorf, A. (2022). “Bricolage, Academia, and the Question of Nature: Implications for Research.” International Institute for Critical Pedagogy and Transformative Leadership 12th Annual International Congress, A Coruña, Spain, October 2022.

Poppendorf, A. (2016). “The Influence of Masculinity upon American Imperialism: A Study of the Spanish-American War, the Anti-Imperialist Movement, and the Rise of Theodore Roosevelt,” Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference: Union University, Jackson, Tennessee, 2016.

*Best Graduate Student Paper