"Is That Your Dog?" The Emotional Geography of an Online Critical Multicultural Education Course

• In Event: Promoting Justice and Equity in Online Learning Contexts

Abstract

This semester-long microethnography explores how the emotional experiences of students in two synchronous, critical multicultural education courses are shaped by their physical environments and classroom interactions. Using video data, interviews, and open-ended questionnaires, we discovered patterns of emotions revealing a Zoom emotional geography. Physical environments students zoomed from, unmute buttons, and the chat box were all identified as influencing the perception of and participation in the course. Additionally, while critical multicultural education courses are often known for high amounts of explicit student resistance, instructors in both courses did not identify any student resistance. These findings suggest that attending to the structures of online courses and the emotional experiences of instructors and students are important and valuable to learning and teaching.

Authors

• Elizabeth Finlayson Harris, Brigham Young University

• Erin Feinauer Whiting, Brigham Young University