Information Tools

Specializations

  • Qualitative Data Analysis
  • Community-Based Participatory Research
  • Applied Linguistics

Research Areas

Biography

Renee Lynch is a social researcher with a background in education and applied linguistics, bringing an interdisciplinary perspective to critically examine relations of power between people, information, institutions, and technology through qualitative and collaborative approaches. She is currently a Postdoctoral Scholar with the Technology and Social Change Group (TASCHA) in the Information School at the University of Washington. Her research centers equity in and through community partnerships. She is co-designing an innovative funding program with and for African libraries using participatory grantmaking as part of the ALVA (Advancing Library Visibility in Africa) project. She also works with educators across Washington state and an organization serving Seattle’s Black community to co-design media literacy resources and facilitate participatory research as part of the Co-Designing for Trust project.

Renee’s dissertation focused on decolonizing collaboration in English language teaching in Tanzania through the lens of identity. She is currently writing a book to communicate its insights with broader audiences. She holds a Ph.D. in English, a master’s in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), and a bachelor's in Theatre and Anthropology. Outside of work, you can find Renee performing comedy improv, running in the forest, cooking vegetarian meals, and talking to her cat.

Education

  • Ph D, English, Language and Rhetoric, University of Washington, 2023
  • MA, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (M.A. TESOL), University of Washington, 2013
  • BA, Theatre (with Honors) and Anthropology (with Honors), Grinnell College, 2008

Awards

  • Heilman Dissertation Prize - UW Department of English, 2022-2023
  • Ottenberg-Winans Fellowship - UW African Studies, 2022
  • English Department Dissertation Fellowship - Department of English, University of Washington, 2021
  • Presidential Dissertation Fellowship - UW Graduate School, 2021
  • Boeing-Fritz UW International Research and Study Fellowship - UW Graduate School, 2020
  • Boren Fellowship, Tanzania - National Security Education Program, 2020
  • Ottenberg-Winans Fellowship - UW African Studies, 2020

Publications and Contributions

  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    “Think out of the box”: Opportunities from COVID-19 for libraries. (2025)
    International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Authors: Charles Bugre, Renee Lynch, Chris Jowaisas, Jason Young
  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    Epistemological entanglements: Decolonizing understandings of identity and knowledge in English language teaching. (2023)
    International Journal of Educational Research, 118(Unknown Issue) Authors: Renee Lynch, Suhanthie Motha
  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    ‘The tears don’t give you funding’: data neocolonialism in development in the Global South (2023)
    Third World Quarterly, 44(5), pp. 911-929 Authors: Renee Lynch, Jason Young, Chris Jowaisas, Joel Sam, Stanley Boakye-Achampong, Maria Garrido, Chris Rothschild
  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    What Makes an Ideal Partner? African Libraries and Neoliberal Discourses in International Development (2022)
    Applied Linguistics, 43(5), pp. 958-977 Authors: Renee Lynch, Jason Young, Chris Jowaisas, Stanley Boakye-Achampong, Joel Sam
  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    Public Libraries and Development across Sub-Saharan Africa: Overcoming a Problem of Perception (2021)
    Libri, 71(4) Authors: Jason Young, Renee Lynch, Stanley Boakye-Achampong, Chris Jowaisas, Joel Sam
  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    African Libraries in Development: Perceptions and Possibilities (2020)
    The International Information & Library Review, 53(4), pp. 277-290 Authors: Renee Lynch, Jason Young, Chris Jowaisas, Stanley Boakye-Achampong, Joel Sam
  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    Benefits of crowdsourcing for libraries: A case study from Africa (2020)
    International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), 47(2) Authors: Renee Lynch, Jason Young, Stanley Boakye-Achampong, Chris Jowaisas, Joel Sam, Bree Norlander
  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    Data challenges for public libraries: African perspectives and the social context of knowledge (2020)
    Information Development, 37(2) Authors: Renee Lynch, Jason Young, Chris Jowaisas, Chris Rothschild, Maria Garrido, Stanley Boakye-Achampong, Joel Sam
  • Journal Article, Academic Journal
    Volunteer geographic information in the Global South: barriers to local implementation of mapping projects across Africa (2020)
    GeoJournal, 86(Unknown Issue), pp. 2227-2243 Authors: Jason Young, Renee Lynch, Stanley Boakye-Achampong, Chris Jowaisas, Joel Sam, Bree Norlander

Presentations

  • “Not wrong, but not shared:” Decoloniality as Dialogue with the Global South (2025)
    AAAL Conference - Denver, CO
  • Decolonizing Education and Advancing Equity in Academic Spaces: Innovating Funding Models for Decolonial and Ethical Education Initiatives (2025)
    The Africa-US University Networks Conference - University of the Witwatersrand
  • Joint Fundraising and Resource Mobilisation: Participatory Grant-making as a Tool for Equitable Distribution of Funding (2025)
    The Africa-US University Networks Conference - University of the Witwatersrand (virtual)
  • The Multiplicity of Truth: Engaging Emotion and Community in Critical Digital Media Literacy (2025)
    UW Praxis Conference - Seattle, WA
  • Working Together Across Dif erences: Lessons from a U.S.-Tanzania Collaboration (2025)
    Africa ELTA Conference - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
  • Autoethnography Alongside: Inviting Relationality into Ethnography (2024)
    CCCC - Spokane, WA
  • Nice White Ladies: Decolonizing Identities of White Women in Education in Africa (2024)
    CIES - Miami, FL
  • Collaboration in practice: Insights from a U.S.-Tanzania research project in applied linguistics (2023)
    AAAL Conference - Portland, OR
  • Coping with Large Classes in Tanzania: Communicative Language Teaching Approach (2023)
    TESOL Convention - Portland, OR
  • Epistemological entanglements: Decolonizing understandings of identity and knowledge in English language teaching (2023)
    AAAL Conference - Portland, OR
  • African Libraries as Development Partners in Education Panel Discussion (2021)
    CIES Virtual conference - Virtual
  • Libraries for Development: An Update from the ALVA Project (2021)
    4th AfLIA Conference & 6th African Library Virtual Summit - Virtual
  • Neoliberal Partnerships in African Development: Lessons from Libraries (2021)
    CIES Virtual conference - Virtual
  • What makes an ideal partner? African Libraries and Neoliberal Discourses in International Development (2021)
    AAAL Virtual Conference - Virtual
  • The Power of Teachers: Postcolonial Hybridity in Tanzania (2020)
    AAAL Conference – canceled due to COVID-19 - Denver, CO
  • Who We Think We Are: Narratives of Researcher Practice (2020)
    CIES Conference - canceled due to COVID-19 - Miami, FL
  • From the Outside In: Empowering Learner-Centered Education in East Africa (2017)
    TESOL Convention - Seattle, WA
  • The English Language Club Movement: From Africa to WAESOL (2016)
    WAESOL Conference - Spokane, WA
  • Learner Centered Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Problems and Possibilities (2015)
    Burkina English Teachers Association Conference - Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
  • Learner Centered Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Problems and Possibilities (2015)
    English for Effective Communication Conference at Strathmore University - Nairobi, Kenya
  • A Worthy Investment?: ELL Student Perceptions of Critical Thinking (2013)
    TESOL Convention - Dallas, TX
  • A Worthy Investment?: ELL Student Perceptions of Critical Thinking (2013)
    Spokane Regional ESL Conference - Spokane, WA
  • A Worthy Investment?: ELL Student Perceptions of Critical Thinking (2013)
    University of Washington IELP In-Service - Seattle, WA