Rejected

Looking from the Outside In

Abstract

This reflective narrative examines the experience of submitting a collaborative autoethnographic proposal to a major educational conference, focusing on the creation of a counter space for Black scholars at a historically white institution. Using the currere method as a framework, this reflection delves into an unsettling encounter with a reviewer who dismissed the proposal's scholarly significance. Through the currere process, the experience was reframed, moving from frustration and self-doubt to an understanding of feedback as a tool for growth. This method provided a critical lens for analyzing how feedback—when delivered equitably—can empower scholars.