Shapel Monique LaBorde, a doctoral student in the Philosophy and Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University, has been selected to receive the 2026 Legacy Award from the Philosophy of Education Society (PES) for her paper, “In the Wake of Homegoing: Rootedness, Loss, and Learning.” The Legacy Award recognizes the best paper by a graduate student accepted to the PES annual conference program. LaBorde’s paper explores how grief, place, and memory shape educational becoming, asking what it means to learn “in the wake” of loss and homegoing, and how rootedness can function as a form of knowledge, survival, and ethical orientation. Grounded in Black feminist thought and philosophical inquiry, the work reflects LaBorde’s broader commitments to embodied knowledge, ancestral memory, and education as liberation.

Reflecting on the recognition, LaBorde shared: “Receiving this award is special to me because it allowed my authentic scholarly voice to be recognized as important and affirmed that meaningful and personal is not less rigorous in academic spaces—this not just an academic honor, but an affirmation of a way of thinking and writing that is rooted, embodied, and accountable to the communities and lineages that shaped me. I felt proud to represent Teachers College and the Philosophy and Education program, as this paper has been shaped through my scholarly explorations as a doctoral student and life as a full-time educator, and I’m grateful to carry this work into the PES community and beyond.”

LaBorde presented her work at the 2026 PES Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, where the award was formally conferred during the society’s business meeting.