Finding Hope in the Disruption of Epistemologies of Ignorance through Student’s Visual Representations

• In Event: Critical Visual + Multimodal Research for Racial Justice

Abstract

The majority of K-12 and college classes fail to include Latinx/a/o histories. Thus, when students have the opportunity to take a Chicano/a studies course, it ends up being a space for learning more about oneself and a place that fosters self-reflection, healing, and hope for Hispanic and Latin/a/o/x/e students (Ochoa & Pineda, 2008). Visual methods provide an avenue for acknowledging and learning about people and is a form of personal expression (Chalfen, 2020). This, coupled with efforts to counter epistemologies of ignorance and to uplift students’ voices, may yield meaningful work created by students when classroom spaces provide opportunities for self-reflection and personal connection to course content. The purpose of this work is
threefold: (1) to demonstrate an intentional push against invisibilization of students, (2) to center student voices through their artistic representations and (3) to demonstrate students’ use of multimodalities to counter epistemologies of ignorance. Specifically, this chapter showcases the artistic work of two community college students who were enrolled in a Chicano studies class with mostly Hispanic, Latino/a/e/x, Central American, and Chicano students, and whom had the opportunity to bridge their lived experiences, self -empowerment, sense of hope, and self-expression to course content via creative visual representation. Their work is part of a larger data set from a qualitative study that centers student and educator voices and provides a lens for understanding what students create and how they make meaning. Students used this space to counter dominant narratives and epistemologies of ignorance, while simultaneously, uplifting their identities and voices. Educators should use multimodalities, encourage creativity, and connect students’ diverse identities to course content to create more equitable and validating spaces for students.

Author

• Naomi Ramirez, San Diego State University