The Problem We All Live With: A Critical Appreciative Approach to Undergraduate Racial Justice Activism
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| Language: | English |
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Ohio University / OhioLINK
2019
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| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1554032155135838 |
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oai_dc |
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NDLTD |
| language |
English |
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Higher Education Higher Education Administration African Americans racial justice activism undergraduate critical appreciative inquiry student affairs |
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Higher Education Higher Education Administration African Americans racial justice activism undergraduate critical appreciative inquiry student affairs Clemons Thompson, Stephanie A. The Problem We All Live With: A Critical Appreciative Approach to Undergraduate Racial Justice Activism |
| author |
Clemons Thompson, Stephanie A. |
| author_facet |
Clemons Thompson, Stephanie A. |
| author_sort |
Clemons Thompson, Stephanie A. |
| title |
The Problem We All Live With: A Critical Appreciative Approach to Undergraduate Racial Justice Activism |
| title_short |
The Problem We All Live With: A Critical Appreciative Approach to Undergraduate Racial Justice Activism |
| title_full |
The Problem We All Live With: A Critical Appreciative Approach to Undergraduate Racial Justice Activism |
| title_fullStr |
The Problem We All Live With: A Critical Appreciative Approach to Undergraduate Racial Justice Activism |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Problem We All Live With: A Critical Appreciative Approach to Undergraduate Racial Justice Activism |
| title_sort |
problem we all live with: a critical appreciative approach to undergraduate racial justice activism |
| publisher |
Ohio University / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2019 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1554032155135838 |
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AT clemonsthompsonstephaniea theproblemwealllivewithacriticalappreciativeapproachtoundergraduateracialjusticeactivism AT clemonsthompsonstephaniea problemwealllivewithacriticalappreciativeapproachtoundergraduateracialjusticeactivism |
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1719454874181042176 |
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ohiou15540321551358382021-08-03T07:09:47Z The Problem We All Live With: A Critical Appreciative Approach to Undergraduate Racial Justice Activism Clemons Thompson, Stephanie A. Higher Education Higher Education Administration African Americans racial justice activism undergraduate critical appreciative inquiry student affairs The purpose of this study was to examine, through a critical appreciative lens, the actions of and response to undergraduate racial justice activism, as well as to identify the aspects of institutional culture that foster collaboration with undergraduate student racial justice activists. Recent examples of racial justice activism on university campuses have occurred from frequent use of microaggressions and recurring racist incidents from students, faculty, and staff that have created environments that are unwelcoming for underrepresented populations, particularly African American students. Hostile campus climates have encouraged activism among African American college students in their efforts to call attention to race related issues and implore that university administrators actively address and correct racist behaviors. The topic of college and university student activism has been frequently studied, from attitudes of administrators toward activists, to attitudes of activists toward administrators, to the benefits of engaging in activism activities toward student development, to how students make meaning of their activism engagement. What is less frequently studied is how college and university administrators engage in proactive strategies to collaborate with student activists who call for multicultural reform on their campuses. My dissertation research sought to fill this gap in the literature to help student affairs educators shift potentially negative views of protestors and demonstrators and embrace activism as a necessary developmental element of the undergraduate student experience. The goal of my research was to place the experiences of racially marginalized populations at the center of campus racial equity reform work. My dissertation sought to identify what constitutes a critical appreciative approach to undergraduate racial justice activism, as well as the aspects of institutional culture foster collaboration with student racial justice activists. The critical appreciative inquiry (CAI) framework aims to acknowledge the power that dominant structures have on solution-oriented practices that impact marginalized populations (Cockell & McArthur-Blair, 2012). For my own dissertation research, the CAI lens required that race be a central consideration when collaborating to create a racially just higher educational environment. Using a case study method, a chronology of events provided a detailed description of racist incidents that led up to a student rally, the creation of a list of demands by student activists, and the response from campus administrators. Student, faculty, and staff subjects participated in semi-structured interviews which followed an interview protocol that solicited information about each person’s role in the rally. A review of the list of demands, university strategic plan, and various other documents were analyzed. Online coverage of the rally from multiple sources were also observed. Interviews, document analysis, and observation were used to identify what constitutes an appreciative approach to undergraduate racial justice activism, and to describe the elements of the institutional culture that uniquely situated the case study institution as a model for collaborating with its students to co-create multicultural change on campus.Four themes were revealed from the data collected for this study about what constituted an appreciative approach to undergraduate racial justice activism: connection, collaboration, dialogue, and transparency. The four aspects of institutional culture that fostered collaboration with student activists were small campus size, early arrival programming, technology, and institutional planning. Strategies for student affairs educators to collaborate with undergraduate student activists who call for multicultural reform are shared for the co-creation of a campus climate that actively promotes equity. 2019-06-05 English text Ohio University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1554032155135838 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1554032155135838 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |