Critical Considerations of Space and Place: Rural Student Experiences and Higher Education Opportunities

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Higher education research lacks substantial treatment of rural students and their educational experiences. In this interactive symposium session three critical scholars explore their rural experiences and higher education. They will facilitate conversations toward a more nuanced definition of rurality that recognizes intersecting identities and urbanormativity in rural higher education experiences. Overall, this session seeks to explore the role of rurality and its intersection with race and gender in relation to higher education and post-secondary educational opportunities.

Sub Unit

• Division J - Postsecondary Education / Section 6: Society, Culture, and Change

Chair

• T. Elon Dancy, University of Oklahoma

Papers

• Writing Rural: Critical Perspectives on Rural Students and the College-Going Experience - Kathleen E. Gillon, Iowa State University

• “I’m Not a Feminist”: How Narratives of the Rural Shape Self - Erin Simpson, University of Oklahoma

• Mapping Home and Away: A Critical Spatial Autoethnography of Schooling - Moira Ozias, University of Oklahoma

• A Dialogue on Rural: Definitions and Directions for Future Research - Kathleen E. Gillon, Iowa State University