Ignoring Intersections: Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Geography, Immigration, and Class at Predominantly White Liberal Arts Colleges

• In Event: Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: Intersectionality in Postsecondary Education

Abstract

Drawing from a qualitative study on classroom experiences of students of color at predominantly white liberal arts colleges, this presentation explores how multiple identities of students in this study were often overlooked in the classroom. Instead, intersections of identity were ignored in favor of monolithic racial categories that presumed race and narrowed identity such that ethnicity, class, family, geography, immigration status, and gender were encompassed within the prescribed racial category.
This study poses the following questions: What if we took seriously the call to build inclusive classrooms and campuses instead of relying on monolithic categories and racialized assumptions to inform our practice? What if we grappled with the intersecting identities of students while still understanding the continuing significance of race?

Author

• Tara Lynn Affolter, Middlebury College