“This Class Changed My Life”: Using Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies to Frame Undergraduate Research with Students of Color

Culturally sustaining pedagogy may be used as an innovative theoretical framework to design an undergraduate research course to engage undergraduate students of color at predominantly white institutions. This article presents the theoretical basis for an undergraduate research course, examples of students’ experiences, and the instructors’ assessments of the course’s impact on student retention and persistence. The course presented may be used as a model for other educators to create additional courses that engage and support diverse undergraduate students in research through culturally sustaining pedagogical practices.