scholarly journals Art and Heart to counter the one-hour-zoom-diversity event: Counterspaces as a response to diversity regimes in academia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angie Mejia ◽  
Yuko Taniguchi

This text explores our work as Women of Color (WoC) nurturing spaces and practices in response to the mirage of support, the inadequacy of resources, and the tepid responses to systemic oppression within the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts of our university, a Predominantly White Institution (PWI) in the Midwest. Via reflective vignettes, we discuss developing a community art collaboration as a counterspace, defined by various scholars as “social spaces ... which offer support and enhance feelings of belonging” (Ong, Smith, and Ko 2018, 207) for minoritized students. Throughout this text, we discuss the potential of art-based projects shaped by an anti-racist praxis as a resistance to the “check the box” institutional diversity efforts and as transformative spaces to imagine alternative academic futures for Women of Color staff, faculty, and students.

NASPA Journal ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Park

Analyzing interviews with 18 Asian American female undergraduates, this study seeks to understand how participants viewed the sorority system at a predominantly White institution in the Southeastern United States. Drawing from critical race theory, I argue that the ways in which women perceived and experienced both acceptance and marginalization in the Greek system testify to the complexity and subtlety of racial politics on campus. While women generally perceived sororities as open access, they also reported instances in which race mattered, such as the presence of status hierarchies within the sorority system and the underrepresentation of women of color in sororities.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angie Mejia

In this article, I reflect on my experience as a graduate student and an instructor to examine the embodied risks, professional decisions, and consequences connected to attending graduate school while working as an educator in a predominantly white institution (PWI). Through recollection, memory, and archival data, this autoethnographic text highlights events that led me to reanalyze my “failure” at reaching all of my enrolled students in a sociology of race and ethnicity class and reframe it as a reaction to the social environment of White apathy. This mindframe was supported by the practices of an East Coast university after a racial bias event was publicized in national news media. I argue that we must examine how institutions of higher learning are complicit in fostering racial ecologies of Whiteness that subject Women of Color and others to experience dif- ferent forms of pain and abuse. In doing so, we can create new movidas (moves) that hold groups accountable and promote healthier learning environments for all.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-135
Author(s):  
William J. Daniels

This personal narrative recounts the experiences of an NCOBPS founder, who discusses significant events in his life from student to faculty that motivated his professional journey, including his participation in the founding of NCOBPS. It reflects on what it meant to be a black student, and later, a black faculty member teaching at a predominantly white institution in the political science discipline in the 1960s. It also provides a glimpse into how the freedom movements shaped his fight for fundamental rights as a citizen. Finally, it gives credence to the importance of independent black organizations as agents for political protest and vehicles for economic and social justice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Clarisse Halpern ◽  
Hasan Aydin

AbstractYearly, thousands of international students seek the United States to further their education, bringing cultural and financial capital into the country. Though previous studies have examined international students’ experiences adapting to the receiving country, research is needed to investigate their lived experiences in a predominantly White institution (PWI). Thus, a narrative inquiry was applied to explore international students’ life stories at a PWI in Southwest Florida. Data collection comprised in-depth individual interviews with 12 participants that resulted in four themes: multiracial identities, otherness, self-representation in the dominant society, and perceptions of the dominant culture. The narratives revealed challenges related to isolation, segregation, and feelings of inferiority, contributing to understanding the value of diversity and global education in higher education. Recommendations are included to better serve international students in higher education institutions.


2011 ◽  
Vol 42 (7) ◽  
pp. 1047-1079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael A. Woldoff ◽  
Yolanda M. Wiggins ◽  
Heather M. Washington

Author(s):  
Lucila T. Rudge

This study examines the differences in experiences and perceptions of campus climate of 38 minority students enrolled in a predominantly white institution (PWI). African American students, Native American students, gender and sexually diverse students, students with disabilities, Latinx students, and international students participated in the study. About half of the participants reported negative experiences with racism and discrimination on campus whereas the other half reported the opposite. Attribution to discrimination theory informed the theoretical framework of this study and the data analysis. Policy recommendations to improve the climate of diversity on university campus are provided.


2019 ◽  
pp. 004208591989404
Author(s):  
Royel M. Johnson ◽  
Terrell L. Strayhorn ◽  
Christopher S. Travers

To ensure the effectiveness of academic advising efforts on campus and to increase Black male collegians’ use of such services, administrators must better understand how Black males experience academic advising in college. This exploratory qualitative case study aims to understand the academic advising experiences of Black males at a large urban, predominantly White institution. Participants in this study (a) experienced a number of process-related challenges, including difficulties with scheduling advising appointments and accessing their academic advisor; (b) stressed the role of race and culture in academic advising; and (c) highlighted positive outcomes of formal and informal advising. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.


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