Biography
Aliyah's research and teaching commitments lie at the intersection of race, gender, place, and power. Aliyah is interested in how these processes and dynamics unfold across time and space, especially within schools and the Criminal Legal System. For Aliyah's dissertation, she examines how schools can promote or undermine the resilience efforts of Black youth as they are navigating precarious social arenas at a critical juncture in their development; the transition to adulthood. Aliyah uses qualitative methods of interviewing, observations, and ethnography to examine how schools are spatially organized (both physically and ideologically) to disadvantage or advance Black students when compared to their White counterparts. Drawing on a spatial analytical framework from race, gender, and labor geographies coupled with Black feminist methodology and praxis, Aliyah's project is both interdisciplinary and responsive to the narratives and lived experiences of Black youth.