Jillianne Code

This research examines the intersections of narco-trafficking, cultural memory, and mediated representations, focusing on the enduring mythos of Pablo Escobar and its implications for Medellín’s youth. Drawing on cultural memory studies and public pedagogy frameworks, the research interrogates how narco-novelas and transnational media narratives reframe Colombia’s violent history, commodifying trauma and perpetuating simplified discourses that obscure the structural and systemic dimensions of narco-trafficking. Through a qualitative approach encompassing surveys, semi-structured interviews, and media content analysis, this research unveils the mechanisms through which mediated narratives shape collective memory and identity, particularly within the context of Medellín’s younger generations.The findings underscore the pervasive influence of narco-novelas and global productions in constructing and disseminating representations that both romanticize and vilify figures like Escobar. These narratives, while resonating across local and international audiences, risk normalizing violence and embedding narco-cultural values within the public consciousness. By situating these dynamics within broader debates on media ethics and cultural commodification, the research highlights the role of public pedagogies in contesting the reductionist portrayals that dominate popular culture.This research advances the understanding of media as co-author of memory, revealing its capacity to mediate historical consciousness, negotiate frameworks of otherness, and influence identity formation. By advocating for critical media literacy and educational interventions, the research calls for a re-signification of cultural memory that resists oversimplification and addresses the socio-political complexities underpinning Colombia’s narco-trafficking legacy.

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This dissertation explores the relationship with self, and between self and Other, in the process of be(com)ing a teacher. It is informed by how, in teacher-inquiry, personal inquiry precedes, coincides with, and succeeds professional inquiry (Kelly, 2003; Loughran, & Russell, 2002; Orland-Barak, 2014). Alongside an examination of my own educational experience, I share of my engagement with 12-Step programs (Hopson, 1996) in more recent years, as a key part of this self-work. I write of these intertwined and iterative processes, introducing what I refer to as the curriculum of the self.After grounding the work within curriculum studies, through the work of Jurgen Habermas, the central sections of the dissertation explore the being and becoming of a teacher. I begin with a narrative inquiry, examining my earlier years as a teacher, a pilgrimage where I endured a sense of disconnection from myself and from my students, through to my time where I returned to graduate studies and began to make purposeful strides in be(com)ing the educator I am today. I then share an example of my use of currere (Pinar, 1975), and how this facilitated an agentic re-writing of the self. Here I offer a re-consideration of what education does for and to us, by sharing narratives of how my engagement with the curriculum of the self (Forde, 2023) afforded me a new perspective, a reorientation, on my own understanding of teaching and learning. In the final section of the dissertation, I share episodes from this self-work and how these have facilitated a long-sought reconciliation with self and between self and Other, This study underscores the transformative potential of curriculum and offers an examination of the complexity of the inner landscape of an educator (Palmer, 1997a). It aims to offer an example of a way to connect with self and Other in the iterative process of self-work. As such, the curriculum of self is shown to be both foundational and essential to being in the world as an educator.

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