Autumn Griffin

Autumn Griffin is an Assistant Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education at UNC Charlotte.

Griffin did her undergraduate work at Penn State, double majoring in English and African and African-American Studies. She then completed an M.Ed. at University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education before pursuing her doctoral degree, earning a Ph.D. from University of Maryland – College Park.

While she pursued her own education, she also taught middle and high school English, and later worked in teacher education and literacy in D.C., Philadelphia, and Atlanta. In 2025, she was awarded the NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship to develop her project, ‘Storying Change: Black Girls’ Digital Narratives as Educational Advocacy,’ which involves youth co-researchers in a creative, justice-oriented research process.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Black girlhood studies, and how Black girls use storytelling and creativity to advocate for educational justice
• Critical literacies
• Digital media
• Teacher education