Engaging Fantasy in Qualitative Research

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 3:05 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Fantasies, Dreams, and Testimonios: Storying Just Futures of Qualitative Research (Table 36)

Abstract

In this paper, the authors discuss the theory and practice of fantasy as method in qualitative research. Fantasy is a means to break research methodologies away from best practices for justice, as if the only thing preventing just futures is promoting understanding. Fantasy as method both interrogates the role of educational actors’ attachments to fantasies that drive current educational practice and creates just environments through the strategic use of fantasy. Concept as method is the mode of inquiry and Lauren Berlant’s writings on fantasy ground the concept. The authors explore three postsecondary sites expressing three different fantasies: the fantasy of work-life balance for faculty mothers, the fantasy of effective instructional design, and the fantasy of productivity that forges college administrators.

Authors

• Emily Hanson Moore, Old Dominion University

• David Tod, Virginia Community College System

• Laura Elizabeth Smithers, University of Nevada, Reno