Sarah Madsen, Ph.D.
Education
B.A., International Studies and Political Science, Pepperdine University
M.S. Ed., Higher Education and Student Affairs, Baylor University
Ph.D., Higher Education Studies and Leadership, Baylor University
Teaching Philosophy
I view the classroom as a space of "radical possibility" in higher education, to use the language of critical pedagogy scholar bell hooks, where student and teacher alike can learn together and from one another toward personal and communal aspirations and toward a more equitable academy and world. I currently teach in the Ed.D in Educational Leadership (Higher Education) program; please reach out with questions about our course of study or program admissions!
Research
Broadly, Dr. Madsen's scholarship leverages sociological and critical frameworks to gain empirical, theoretical, and practical insights into higher education structures and mechanisms that reproduce and maintain classed stratification and inequality. Her work also explores how college administrators and students from historically excluded groups – including low-income students, students experiencing hunger in college, and students of color – address, navigate, and resist such disparities toward justice, equity, and success. With Baylor University colleagues Dr. Nathan F. Alleman and Dr. Cara Cliburn Allen, Dr. Madsen recently published Starving the Dream: Student Hunger and the Hidden Costs of Campus Affluence (Johns Hopkins University Press). Starving the Dream tells the story of exceptional college students who struggle to afford food in exceptional universities, as they strive to embrace the ideal undergraduate experience promised by these highly selective institutions of higher learning. You can learn more about this book at StarvingtheDream.com. Dr. Madsen's research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the Templeton Foundation. You can find her work in leading outlets including the American Educational Research Journal, the Journal of College Student Retention, and the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.
Outreach
Dr. Madsen currently serves as an Editorial Board member for the Journal of First-Generation Student Success, as well as the research coordinator for the Socioeconomic and Class Issues in Higher Education Knowledge Community. Locally, Dr. Madsen is committed to supporting food insecurity efforts in the Gulf Coast, to ensure students and their families have access to basic needs resources.
Biography
The first in her family to attend college, Sarah completed her undergraduate work at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, where she became deeply involved in campus life there. She then moved to Waco, Texas for graduate training in higher education, student affairs, and leadership at Baylor University. While at Baylor, Sarah was instrumental in promoting food insecurity resources on campus, including serving as the first graduate apprentice of The Store, Baylor's food pantry. Before coming to South, Sarah most recently served as a postdoctoral researcher at Baylor, studying low-income undergraduate students'; experiences and aspirations. When Sarah isn't doing research or thinking about doing research, she enjoys collecting antique quilts, gardening, spending time with her family, and reading.