Crafting a Hope Narrative: Student Activism Through Spatial Justice in Higher Education

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 22
  In Roundtable Session: Racial Justice in Higher Education: Making Sense of Lived Experiences on Campus

Abstract

Student activists’ uses of space on college campuses can teach educational researchers, administrators, and policy makers how higher education should be refashioned for a more just future. Drawing on Berry & Stovall (2013), we use critical race methodology, specifically counter-storytelling, as we work with Black student activists to show how theories of spatial justice are useful for a) understanding the experiences of Black students on historically white campuses and b) helping white staff, faculty, and students better accomplice with students of color to fight for justice. Finally, we suggest they are useful for marginalized students in creating homespaces, and student activists in devising strategies for navigating power relations to create more just educational spaces on college campuses.

Authors

• Rodney T. Bates, University of Oklahoma

• Moira Ozias, University of Oklahoma

• Øscar Medina, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Lauren Whiteman, University of North Texas