Border Benders: Queer International Student Experiences in U.S. Universities

• In Event: Roundtable Session 3
  In Refereed Roundtable Session: Complex student experiences and the role of technology

Proposal

“I came out the second the plane touched the runway” - Sam
Sam’s journey from the Eastern edge of India to one of the most selective universities in the United States was not without obstacles, barriers, and borders to cross. Like most of the approximately one million international students studying in the United States, Sam navigated an array of academic, financial, and immigration barriers. Yet, unlike a majority of his fellow global scholars, Sam’s LGBTQ+ identity brought on additional considerations, and far heavier weight to his university search, selection, and transition.

My phenomenological study is focused on the ways in which LGBTQ+ international students navigate cultural, geopolitical and institutional borders in the fulfillment of their educational, professional, and personal aspirations. Through interviews and participant submitted creative self-expression I have invited 12 LGBTQ+ identifying international students from universities across the United States to revisit important instances in their path towards university attendance, including their university search and selection, experience with U.S. immigration processes, and their transition into university life. The 12 participants represent a range of genders and sexualities and come from the following regions: Southeast Asia, South Asia, East Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Africa, Latin America and North America.

Through the amplification of the participants’ stories, I argue that each LGBTQ+ student’s purposeful act of traversing and transcending various kinds of borders and barriers illuminate a broad spectrum of unique talents, experiences, and challenges. It is my purpose and hope that through a better understanding these “border-bending” experiences we will strengthen university guidance prior to enrollment and enhance institutional services and resources during, and after their university attendance.

Author

• Dane Richard Rowley, University of Minnesota