Alexzandra Roman
My research is centered around this question of How does the institution become a marketplace of ideas for marginalized identities? In this research I look to concepts of intersectional feminism, how women of color compound their marginalization to form networks to navigate through the institution, analyzing what this network looks like, how ally-ship fits into WOC narratives in the institution, and how these women work with their white colleagues in order navigate or move through higher education spaces. Through this research, we will see the different perspectives and voices from the marginalized identities who have been affected by the institution’s illusion of accessibility, as well as how higher education is seen as a place that forces students and faculty alike to “produce”, creating a capitalistic culture. Ultimately, this research looks to the experiences of women of color and Chicana faculty, staff and students as we try to understand their experiences and how this inaccessibility is affecting them. The end goal of this research is to rethink how institutions/universities can construct higher education spaces to make more space for marginalized identities, specifically the Chicana, and if production is necessary, to rethink how we create a true marketplace of ideas.
Comments
Great Job Ale! Your research sheds light on very important issues that have to be addressed in higher education. A great person I recommend you reach out to is Dr. Veronica Pecero! – Victor Torres
This is a great poster! Thank you for sharing! I enjoyed the audio description and your visual aids are very engaging. You clearly explain intersectionality and your conclusion clearly illustrates how the marketplace affects marginalized identities. In your methods section, you discuss how your research focuses on intersectional feminism. This makes me curious, do you plan to research how individuals with multiple identities are impacted by the marketplace as well? – Katie Davidson
This is such important research, and I love the way that you have presented it here. Having your audio was so helpful, and really nice, honestly, since we can’t talk to you face-to-face right now! Puts some more humanity back into this need to be virtual haha. Your graphs alone are incredibly powerful for showing the numerical breakdown at UT, and then combining it with your ethnographic work, it creates this really great narrative for this huge issues not only at UT, but at a lot institutions. Have the people you’ve spoken with seen any kind of meaningful, positive/receptive institutional-based response to this need for change, even if it’s on the departmental level? – Anna Hornsby
This is such an important topic, and you do a wonderful job in this poster and your audio clip of presenting its significance. Congratulations on your work so far — I hope you continue it. – Jeanette Herman
This is wonderful, Ale! Thank you for sharing your intersectional approach to an issue so dear to your heart. Well done! – Jennifer M.
I love this project! As a white undergraduate student, I never thought of the university as “a place where Chicana women are not meant to succeed,” but the numbers show that it is true. It’s obvious that there is a lot of work to be done to construct more accessible higher education spaces, and I’m excited to see where this important research takes us! – Camille L.
Thank you for providing the audio description — it was so helpful for giving context to your work, and making clear why this work is so important. Given the fact that your project is partly about narratives, it made a big difference to hear a little of your own narrative. – Rob Reichle