Middletown, PA 17057
Biography
Robin Redmon Wright is an Associate Professor of Lifelong Learning and Adult Education at Penn State Harrisburg. She earned a B.A. and M.A. in English Literature from The University of Tennessee, and she holds a Ph.D. in Adult Education from Texas A&M University. Her research interests reflect a critical perspective on popular culture, capitalism, and media around issues
of:
- preserving democracy and improving it
- feminist activism, the effects of patriarchy, and the need for decolonization
- socio-economic class and the growing wealth gap
- media’s power to influence and manipulate in both negative and positive ways
- media disinformation, media messaging, and audience understanding of those messages
- social media and the spread of conspiracy theories, White nationalism, and right-wing hate
- social media and public health
- embracing diversity, promoting equity, and the importance of understanding
- and considering intersectionality in all of the above.
Dr. Wright received the Commission of Professors of Adult Education’s Early Career Award in 2011, the Kathryn Towns Women’s Award from the Penn State Harrisburg Commission of University Women in 2017 and, along with Drs. Elizabeth Tisdell and Edward Taylor, the American Association of Adult and Continuing Education’s Imogene Okes Best Research Award in 2017.
Dr. Wright is Co-Principal investigator on the Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier Research grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) entitled, FAIR4WISE: Future AI and Robotics for Women in Smart Engineering. Award amount: $559,757.00. Along with University Park faculty, Yuqing Hu (Principal Investigator), and Scarlett Miller (Co-Principal Investigator) this project is developing a new robot teleoperation method based on deep learning and blockchain certification to augment construction workers’ capability and promote diversity, equity, and inclusiveness in the workplace. By some estimates, a large fraction of construction jobs will be automated and teleoperated with robots in the future. This transition can enable safe and remote work away from hazardous construction sites with the potential to reduce obstacles for women to join the industry while also creating an inclusive work environment. At the same time, it is also important to improve the gender diversity of the construction industry, where women and other minority workers represent less than 10% of the workforce. In light of this, the project will investigate gender differences in collaborating and teleoperating robots and capitalize on the understandings to develop robot learning and teleoperation methods that are accessible and equitable across genders. A novel blockchain-based mechanism will also be created to assess workers’ competence and performance to improve fairness and equity in future construction jobs. This research will also measure the impacts of developed technologies on future construction work, characterizing the intended potential and unintended consequences on workers and organizations. If successful, the developed technology ecosystem will help improve worker productivity, safety, and health, and equip the U.S. workers to lead the way in the construction industry reform in a gender-inclusive manner. This project can break down many barriers facing women and other underrepresented workers, opening new and equal work opportunities, helping them participate in the workforce, and navigating them in the transition to the era of robots and artificial intelligence.
Publications
Wright, R. R. (50%), Sandlin, J. A., & Burdick, J. (2023). What is Critical Media Literacy in an Age of Disinformation? New Directions in Adult and Continuing Education: Critical Media Literacy in a Pandemic of Disinformation and Conspiracy, 178, 11-25.
Wright, R. R. (2023). The Way Forward: Adult Educators Combating Mis/Disinformation via Formal and Informal Education. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education: Critical Media Literacy in a Pandemic of Disinformation and Conspiracy, 178, 119-130.
Wright, R. R., Sandlin, J. A., & Burdick, J. (2023). Editors’ Notes. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education: Critical Media Literacy in a Pandemic of Disinformation and Conspiracy, 178 (5-9).
Wright, R. R. (2022). Teaching through Pain: Finding Peace, of Sorts, after Unimaginable Loss. Adult Learning, 0(0). 1-10, Online First.
Veldheer, S., Wright, R. R. (Co-Author, 35%), & Foulds, J. R. (2019). What Low-Income Smokers Have Learned from Public Health Pedagogy: A Narrative Inquiry. American Journal of Health Behavior, 43(4), 691-704.
Wright, R. R. (Co-Author, 70%), & Sandlin, J. A. (2017). (Critical) learning in/through everyday life in a global consumer culture. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 36(1-2), 77-94. ISBN/ISSN: 10.1080/02601370.2017.1270068
Ciano, C., King, T. S., Wright, R. R. (Co-Author, 25%), Perlis, M., & Sawyer, A. M. (2017). Longitudinal study of insomnia symptoms among women during perimenopause. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing, 46(6), 804-813. ISBN/ISSN: 10.1016/j.jogn.2017.07.011
Wright, R. R. (2017). Academic rigor or academic rigor mortis? Supervising dissertations is serious business. Adult Learning, 28(1), 35-37. ISBN/ISSN: 10.1177/1045159515593896.
Wright, R. R. (2016). Comics, class, and kitsch: An autoethnographic exploration of an accidental academic. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 29(3), 426-444. ISBN/ISSN: 10.1080/09518398.2015.1078518
Tisdell, E. J., Wright, R. R. (Co-Author, 35%), & Taylor, E. (2016). Adult Education Faculty and Programs in North America: Faculty Background, Work, and Satisfaction. Adult Education Quarterly, 66(1), 76-95.
Dentith, A. M., Wright, R. R. (Co-Author, 35%), & Coryell, J. E. (2015). Those “Mean Girls and their Friends”: Bullies and Mob Rule in the Academy. Adult Learning, 26(1), 28-34.
Wright, R. R. (2013). Zombies, cyborgs and other labor organizers: An introduction to representations of adult learning theories in popular culture. New Horizons for Adult Education and Human Resource Development, 25(1), 5-17.
Wright, R. R. (65%), & Wright, G. L. (2013). Investigating sci-fi and horror for critical adult education and teacher education: Learning international perspectives and valuing the “other”. International Journal of Innovative Learning and Leadership, 1(1), 6-12. ISBN/ISSN: 2161-7252
Sandlin, J. A., Wright, R. R., & Clark, M. C. (2013). Re-examining Theories of Adult Learning, and Adult Development Through the Lenses of Public Pedagogy. Adult Education Quarterly,63(1), 3-23.
Coryell, J. E., Durodoye, B., Wright, R. R., Pate, P. E., & Nguyen, S. (2012). Case studies of internationalization in adult and higher education: Inside the processes of four universities in the US and UK. Journal of Studies in International Education, 16(1), 75-98.
Durodoye, B. A., Coryell, J. E., Wright, R. R., & Pate, P. E. (2011). Assessing global perspectives at a Hispanic and minority serving institution: A university-wide effort. Journal of College and Character, 12(3), 1-6.
Wright, R.R., Coryell, J.A., Martinez, M., Harmon, J., M., Henkin, R., and Keehn, S. (2010). Rhyme, response, and reflection: An investigation of the possibilities for critical transformative learning through adult poetry reading. Journal of Transformative Education, 8(2), 103-123.
Wright, R.R. (2010). Narratives from popular culture: Critical implications for adult education. New Directions in Adult and Continuing Education, 126: Narrative Perspectives on Adult Education (pp. 63-77).
Wright, R. R., & Sandlin, J. A. (2009). Popular culture, public pedagogy, and perspective transformation: The Avengers and adult learning in living rooms. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 28(4), 533-551.
Wright, R. R., & Sandlin, J. A. (2009). Cult TV, hip hop, shape-shifters, and vampire slayers: A review of the literature at the intersection of adult education and popular culture. Adult Education Quarterly, 59(2), 118-141.
Wright, R. R. (2008). Research as quest: An autoethnographic exploration of embodied class, intellectual obsession, and the academy. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 5(2), 69-94.
Wright, R.R. (2007). The Avengers, public pedagogy, and the development of British women’s consciousness. New Directions in Adult and Continuing Education, Popular Culture and Entertainment Media,115, 63-72.
Wright, R.R. (2003). Real men don’t ask for directions: Male student attitudes toward peer tutoring. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 34(1), 61-75.
Wright, G. L., Wright, R. R., & Lamb, C. E. (2002). Developmental Mathematics Education and Supplemental Instruction: Pondering the Potential. Journal of Developmental Education, 26(1), 30.
Wright, R. R. (2001). Coaching critical thinking: Tutoring athletes toward self-sufficiency. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 31(2), 157-170.
Parts of Books
Wright, R. R. (2023). Teaching Students to Think Critically in the Age of TikTok, Tweets, and Tenacious Titillation. In Joellen E. Coryell, Lisa M. Baumgartner, & Jeremy W. Bohonos (Eds.), Methods for Facilitating Adult Learning: Strategies for Enhancing Instruction and Instructor Effectiveness. Sterling, VA: Taylor & Francis/Routledge. Peer-reviewed/refereed. [In Press - forthcoming September 2023].
Wright, R.R. (2023). A Doctor Who Academy for Dystopian Times. In: Harmes, M.K., Scully, R. (eds) Academia and Higher Learning in Popular Culture (pp. 215-234). Palgrave Studies in Science and Popular Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Wright, R. R. (2023). How Adult Learning from Media Cultures Changed the World in 2020. In Dr. Karen Evans, Dr. Wing-On Lee, Dr Jörg Markowitsch and Professor Miriam Zukas (Eds.), Springer Third International Handbook of Lifelong Learning (pp. 1-23). Basel: Springer. Peer-reviewed/refereed.
Jubas, K., Sandlin, J. A., Wright, R. R. (Co-Author, 25%), & Burdick, J. (2021). Adult Learning through Everyday Engagement with Popular Culture. In Tonette S. Rocco, M Cecil Smith, Robert Mizzi, Lisa Merriweather, Josh Hawley (Eds.), 2020 Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education (168-176), New York: Stylus. Peer-reviewed/refereed.
Wright, R. R. (2017). Popular culture, adult learning, and identity development. In Marcella Milana, Sue Webb, John Holford, Richard Waller, and Peter Jarvis (Eds.), The Palgrave International Handbook on Adult and Lifelong Education and Learning (pp. 971-990). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Peer-reviewed/refereed., ISBN/ISSN: 9781137557827
Wright, R. R. (2017). Tweets, TV, and trends! Popular culture and its impact on adult learning and identity. In Simone X.O. Conceicao, Larry G. Martin, Alan B. Knox (Eds.), Mapping the Field of Adult of Adult & Continuing Education: An International Compendium. (2), (pp. 255-261). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing. Peer-reviewed/refereed., ISBN/ISSN: 9781620365298
Wright, R. R. (2016). If It Quacks a Like Duck. . . The Classist Curriculum of Disney’s Reality Television Shows. In J. A. Sandlin & J. Garlen (Eds.), The Disney curriculum: Education, culture, and society (pp. 120-135). New York, NY: Routledge. Peer-reviewed/refereed.
Wright, R. R. (65%), & Wright, G. (2015). Doctor Who fandom, critical engagement, and transmedia Storytelling: The public pedagogy of the Doctor. In K. Jubas, N. Taber, and T. Brown (Eds.), Popular Culture as Pedagogy: Research in the Field of Adult Education (pp. 11-30). Rotterdam: Sense Publishing. Peer-reviewed/refereed., ISBN/ISSN: 9789463002721
Quiroga, S. S., Sandlin, J. A., & Wright, R. R. (Co-Author, 30%) (2015). You Are What You Eat!?: Crafting the (Food) Consuming Subject through Cooking Shows. In Rick Flowers and Elaine Swan (Eds.), Food Pedagogies (pp. 75-94). Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Peer-reviewed/refereed.
Wright, R. R. (2013). The Avengers and feminist identity development: Learning the example of critical resistance from Cathy Gale. In K.M. Ryan and D. Massey (Eds.), Television and the self: Knowledge, identity, and media representation. (pp. 189-204). New York: Lexington-Rowan & Littlefield. Peer-reviewed/refereed.
Wright, R. R. (2012). What everyone needs to know about sex: Training peer tutors and mentors in gendered communication styles. In Karen Agee and Russell Hodges (Eds.), The Handbook for Training Peer Tutors and Mentors (pp. 141-147). Cengage Learning. Peer-reviewed/refereed., ISBN/ISSN: 9781133769446
Wright, R. R. (2010). Unmasking hegemony with The Avengers: Television Entertainment as Public Pedagogy. In Jennifer Sandlin, Brian Schultz and Jake Burdick (Eds.), Handbook of public pedagogy: Education and learning beyond schooling (pp. 139-150). New York: Routledge.
Wright, R. R. (2009). The intersection of critical theory and interdisciplinary learning: The emergence of a pedagogical soul. In Patti Burke (Ed.), Women and pedagogy: Education through autobiographical narrative (pp. 119-125). Troy, New York: Educator's International Press, Inc.
Wright, R. R. (2007). Real men don’t ask for directions: Male student attitudes toward peer tutoring. In J.L. Higbee, et.al. (Eds.), Best practices in college reading and learning. (47-62), (pp. 47-62). College Reading and Learning Association Press. Peer-reviewed/refereed.
Education
Ph.D. (Texas A & M)
M.A. (University of Tennessee)
B.A. (University of Tennessee)