At the Fall 2022 Doctoral Symposium, Dr. Laura Shears was awarded the Alice P. Naylor Outstanding Dissertation Award for the 2021-2022 academic year. Shears graduated in May 2022 with an Ed.D. in educational leadership with a concentration in higher education.
For Shears, being selected as the Naylor Award recipient is “such an honor.” Shears was grateful for the committee’s “guidance and support throughout the dissertation process.”
“The process of dissertation writing was a personal one for me, as I explored the field of yoga education and my own queer and disabled embodiment,” noted Shears. “I’m incredibly touched by this recognition.”
“The process of dissertation writing was a personal one for me, as I explored the field of yoga education and my own queer and disabled embodiment. I’m incredibly touched by this recognition.”
Shears’ dissertation entitled “The Teaching and Practice of the "Yoga Body": A Poststructural, Queercrip Analysis of Yoga Education in the United States'' examines and deconstructs the relations of power and dominant discourses about health and embodiment in the field of yoga education. The dissertation committee was led by Dr. Alecia Jackson, Department of Leadership and Educational Studies; and included Dr. Shawn Ricks, Department of Leadership and Educational Studies; and Dr. Matthew Thomas-Reid, Department of Leadership and Educational Studies, as members.
The Alice P. Naylor Outstanding Dissertation Award, named for Professor Emerita Dr. Alice Naylor, is awarded annually by a faculty committee to one doctoral student at Appalachian State University. This is the highest dissertation honor awarded by the doctoral program in educational leadership.
In the nomination, Jackson described the dissertation project as “a bold work that is theoretically sophisticated and conceptually innovative.”
In recognition of the significance of this dissertation for the field of educational leadership, the award committee stated, “Laura’s work challenges educational spaces to become more inclusive, more accessible, and more affirming of difference.”
“Laura’s work challenges educational spaces to become more inclusive, more accessible, and more affirming of difference.”
Shears chose App State’s doctoral program because “the accessibility of the online program allowed me to participate fully in the cohort experience.”
“I also appreciated that this program offered both the structure and the flexibility to explore a topic that I was passionate about within a supportive cohort community,” Shears added.
In addition to a doctorate from App State, Shears previously earned a bachelor’s degree in English and mathematics from Hope College in Michigan, a master’s degree in higher education administration from North Carolina State University, and an Ed.S. in higher education, adult and developmental education from App State.
Shears has a broad range of higher education experiences in the areas of academic-related instruction, yoga education, and residence life. Additionally, Shears has developed and facilitated professional development curricula including training employees to better support the LGBTQIA+ community and the inaugural mindfulness conference for community college employees in North Carolina.
In addition to being selected as this year’s Naylor Award recipient, Shears recently signed a contract with Routledge to adapt the dissertation into a research monograph entitled, “Queering and Cripping the Yoga Body: Teaching, Practice, and Embodiment” scheduled for future publication.
Laura Shears
