From May 8th to June 5th, 2017, Curie Lee spent a research stay in the USA. Her three-part agenda covered secondary literature collection at Northwestern University Library, a poster presentation at the International Congress of qualitative Inquiry (ICQI) at University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and a research stay at the Library of Congress at Washington D.C.

"Northwestern Library recognized my alumna status and offered me access to their resources […]. The overview I attained through the secondary literature was especially informative in guiding my data collection of laws and court cases significant to the (special) education policy discourse. [...]

ICQI granted me the opportunity to present a poster on the current stand of my research as well as network with specialists in the field. […] Personally, the exchanges had during this poster session were the highlight of this conference. [...] This visit enabled me to interact with scholars and practitioners who expressed interest in my comparative research. Growing in awareness of the global importance and relevance my work has for a burgeoning field is a privilege that not many doctoral students, steeped in the research process, have. [...]

I was able to freely access the Reading Rooms at the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. Being on-site allowed me to have free access to HeinOnline where I was able to collect data on Congressional Records, Supreme Court rulings, and legislation issued from 1949 – 2009. [...] Due to the sheer quantity of data available during my time period, all my time was dedicated to sifting through material and saving the documents relevant to the education policy discourse for children with disabilities. [...]

My assessment of this trip is positive, since I was not only able to attain the data which I had set out to achieve, but also attained a deeper North American perspective on my topic through the various interactions I had during my poster presentation, and ultimately a greater global awareness of the significance of my research. I am grateful for the financial support received for this research stay and look forward to using what I learned through this stay for the advancement of my dissertation".