Pursuing Truth: Unveiling Contradictory Truths in Academia Through Composite Storytelling

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Eight
  In Roundtable Session: The Hidden and Unhidden Labor of Faculty of Color Navigating the Ivory Tower (Table 14)

Abstract

In this paper, we situate questions about truth within academia. Current political tensions impact academia in an insidious way: while universities proclaim missions for justice, they simultaneously subvert this aim by avoiding or working against mobilized, CRT-grounded efforts. What is truth when one thing is said, yet another is done? Engaging these questions, we present three composite stories. We draw from critical race theory (CRT), Latina/Chicana feminism, and critical raced-gendered epistemology, to situate the experiences of Latina faculty in academia and invite attendees to consider how anti-racist, justice-committed faculty can navigate seemingly un-true academic spaces. We end with an invitation to re(imagine) what an institution that embodies the inclusive and just truth it speaks can look like.

Authors

• Racheal M. Banda, Miami University (OH)
  Presenting Author

• Erica Fernandez, Miami University
  Presenting Author

• Brittany A. Aronson, Pennsylvania State University
  Presenting Author

• Ganiva Reyes, Miami University (OH)
  Presenting Author