Zooming in on Everyday Campus Activities, the Hidden Curriculum Embedded in College Culture, and the Turbulence Faced by Queer Students: A Photovoice Project

• In Event: Roundtable Session 22
  In Roundtable Session: Queer on Campus: Identity and Advocacy in Higher Education

Abstract

The foci of this project were challenges faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, or allied students on a United States mid-western university campus. Through the lens of queer theory—a framework that confronts heteronormativity in pursuit of social justice—and with the understanding that “curriculum” entails nearly every interaction we have with our environment, I encouraged LGBTQ+ students, through the practice of photovoice data collection, to identify, digitally document, and describe some of the challenges they face within their collegiate lives. The question guiding my critical inquiry was: How do students depict challenges they face on a heteronormative campus due to their sexual orientation or affiliation with the LGBTQ+ community?

Author

• Michelle Lynn Knaier, Purdue University