Resisting Within: Research Teams as Everyday Utopias

• In Event: Reimagining Social Justice in Doctoral Programs

Abstract

In this paper we argue that reimagining research teams as counterspies (Solórzano et al., 2000) using elements of everyday utopias (Cooper, 2013) and emergent strategy (Brown, 2017) can respond to the positioning of graduate students of color as ruiners of campus happiness narratives and provide opportunities for emancipatory practice. The Action Research Collaborative (ARC) served as a political project site for the creation of a counter space to resist and transform the negative experiences of graduate students of color on one campus. Using ARC as a case example we consider the possibilities of reimagining research teams to realize a more life giving and sustaining campus experience for graduate students of color.

Authors

• Rachel Wagner, Clemson University

• Robin Phelps-Ward, Clemson University

• Dion Tremain Harry, North Carolina State University

• Karleisha Kakraba

• Rebecca L. Morgan, University of South Carolina