By Sound and Image: Reimagining Plática as Method and Praxis for Mother-Scholars of Color

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 7:45 am - Gold 4
  In Roundtable Session: Mothering and Caregiving: Relational Praxis in Critical Qualitative Inquiry

Abstract

This study explores how a Black and an Asian motherscholar co-construct knowledge and solidarity by incorporating sound and image into plática—a method rooted in Chicana/Latina feminist epistemology. Drawing from podcast dialogues, personal photographs, ambient sounds, reflective memos, and audience’s feedback, we examine how mothering and scholarship intersect under structural constraints in academia. We identified two key findings: (1) the tension of balancing academic labor and caregiving functions as a counterstory challenging norms of disembodied productivity; and (2) by expanding plática through visual and sonic elements, the method becomes a sensory, relational tool that enacts resistance, fosters visibility, and sustains community care. This methodological innovation centers the agency and voices of motherscholars of color and challenges dominant knowledge production in academic spaces.

Authors

• Xiaoyi Wei, SUNY Brockport

• Jacqueline Cofield, Hunter College - CUNY