Memeing Yeshiva University: Community Cultural Wealth on Instagram at an Orthodox Jewish University

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 11:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Identity and Culture

Abstract

In the face of ongoing conflict over LGBTQIA+ inclusion at Yeshiva University, the flagship Orthodox Jewish higher education institution, anonymous students use internet memes as a way to gain power and leverage in their fight for recognition and equality. I use Tara Yosso's theory of community cultural wealth to examine how memes are being used at YU and the resistant, linguistic, and aspirational capital that the anonymous student memelords gain from memes rooted in Jewish tradition and popular culture.

Author

• Lindsay Metzker-Epstein, Temple University