"Paving the Way for Whoever Comes Next": Formerly Incarcerated Students Challenge Exclusionary and Discriminatory Narratives

• In Event: Stories That Challenge Whiteness and Discrimination(s)

Abstract

Master narratives, the broadly circulated and historically and socially situated stories that identify what a particular society values, impact individuals’ experiences in school settings and can be damaging for many students, including those who have had contact with the carceral system. In this paper, I use the master- and counter- narrative frameworks to untangle the experiences of formerly incarcerated college students who are simultaneously navigating the culturally coveted but exclusionary master narrative of a college student and the discriminatory master narrative of a formerly incarcerated person. This work illuminates ways that students find and create counter narratives to resist larger hegemonic, neoliberal, and racist master narratives and educate and empower others in their campus communities.

Author

• Kylie A. Kenner, University of California - Santa Cruz
  Presenting Author