Dr. Ali Watts is an Assistant Professor at Bowling Green State University within the Higher Education and College Student Personnel programs.
Education
Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, Higher Education
Ed.M., Boston University, Higher Education Administration
M.A., University of Georgia, English Literature, Rhetoric and Composition
B.A., Colgate University, English Language and Literature
Research Interests
Equity-minded organizational change; free speech and academic freedom; higher education labor movements; federal, state, and institutional-level educational policy; shared governance and institutional decision-making; critical and creative pedagogies; (post) qualitative research methods
Recent Publications
Aglah, E.* & Watts, A. (in press). Missing on the Menu: Campus Dining and African International Student Sense of Belonging. In J. Noel (Ed.) A Culinary Approach to Inclusion in Higher Education: Supporting and Protecting Religious Traditions, Medical Needs, and Health and Sustainability Preferences. Myers Education Press.
Watts, A. (in press). Picket Line Pedagogy: Democratic Learning at Work in Graduate Student Labor Movements. In Democracy in Higher Education: Advancing Civic-Minded Student Learning. M. Schuster (Ed.). Routledge.
Watts, A., Palmer, D. & Silberstein, S. (2025). Embracing playful criticality as a departure from the thoughtless university. Teaching in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2025.2468973
Rubin, P. G., Thomas, S. & Watts, A. (2024). Exploring determinants of institutional stakeholder responses to state policies targeting ‘divisive concepts’ in the Southern United States.’ Journal of Public Integrity. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10999922.2024.2406851
Watts, A., & Dowd, A. C. (2023). Access and Equity in Higher Education. In Research Handbook on the Transformation of Higher Education. Leisyte, L., Dee, J., and van der Meulen, B. (Eds). Edward Elgar.
Clayton, A. B., Bailey, M., Watts, A., McNamee, T. C., Slaughter, K. F. & McClendon, N. (2023). Supporting Rural Postsecondary Education and Workforce Training. In J.K. Hinojosa, Guilbeau, J. P., & V. A. Sansone (Eds.) Postsecondary student access and success in Nevada: An ASHE institute with southern Nevada higher education leaders. Association for the Study of Higher Education.
Watts, A. (2022). Beyond ‘Woke Play’: Strategies for Challenging Performative Allyship in Student Affairs ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ Programming. In Johnson, R.M., Anya, U. & Garces, L.M. (Eds.) Racial Equity on College Campuses: Connecting Research and Practice. SUNY Press.
