Emma McMain Data-verified

Affiliation confirmed via AI analysis of OpenAlex, ORCID, and web sources.

Assistant Professor

Last publication 2026 Last refreshed 2026-05-16

faculty

5 h-index 32 pubs 54 cited

Biography and Research Information

OverviewAI-generated summary

Emma McMain is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, whose research examines the influence of daily discourses and affects on identity, relationships, and social practices. Her scholarship employs critical discourse analysis, critical affect studies, feminist theories, critical whiteness studies, and ecocriticism to foster discussions on social and eco-justice within educational contexts. A significant focus of her work investigates the dual potential of social and emotional learning (SEL) to either advance or hinder equity.

Recent projects undertaken by McMain include a "discourse community" approach to professional development for teachers, discourse analysis of public media, and critical podcast methodology. Her scholarly output includes publications such as "Getting good at bad emotion: teachers resist and reproduce hegemonic positivity in a discourse community" (2023), "The 'Problem Tree' of SEL: A Sociopolitical Literature Review" (2023), and "Drawing the line: Teachers affectively and discursively question what counts as 'appropriate behavior' in schools" (2023). McMain has a h-index of 5 and has published 32 works with 53 citations. She collaborates with Lindsay A. Lundeen and A. Engelbrecht, both from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

Metrics

  • h-index: 5
  • Publications: 32
  • Citations: 54

Selected Publications

  • Reflections on teacher-researcher collaboration in a design-based science education project (2026)
  • Unsettling an “Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables” Analogy of Social and Emotional Learning (2026)
  • When empty stomachs become flattened identities: a transqualitative exploration of “basic needs” in education (2025)
  • Podcasting as a Critical Methodology: Reflections From a Social and Emotional Learning Podcasting Project (2025)
  • Teacher Perspectives on the Discourse of Youth in Crisis: Is “Returning to Normal” the Goal? (2025)
  • When Empty Stomachs Become Flattened Identities: Questioning the ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ Discourse Around Food Insecurity (2025)
  • Many Ways to Lead: A Discourse Analysis of Sport as an Influencer for Climate Action (2025)
  • Hot-Spots, Diffractions, and Interstellar Poetry: Self-Directed Violence Research Meets Postqualitative Inquiry (2025)
  • The kids are (not) alright: Teachers’ perspectives on the discourse of youth in social-emotional crisis (2024)
    2 citations DOI OpenAlex

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Collaboration Network

20 Collaborators 11 Institutions 2 Countries

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