Master, Personal, and Counternarratives: Weaving "College Student" and "Previously Incarcerated" Onto a Complex Tapestry

• In Event: Navigating Academia

Abstract

This conceptual paper will explore the ways in which narrative research can illuminate challenges and possibilities for previously incarcerated college students and foster opportunities for greater educational and societal equity. The goals of this paper are to 1) explore foundational and contemporary narrative theories; 2) complicate the ways in which personal narratives intersect with larger cultural narratives; and 3) present a number of lessons from narrative research that may be applied to sensitive student populations. Particularly, this paper adopts the constructs of master, personal, and counter narratives to illustrate ways in which educational research can complicate cultural narratives about what it means to be a “college student” and “previously incarcerated” in order to support individuals who carry both identities.

Author

• Kylie Alisa Kenner, University of California - Santa Cruz