Identity Social Activism And The Pursuit Of Higher Education

The topic of immigration has become increasingly volatile in U.S. society, and undocumented college students play a central role in mobilizing and politicizing a critical mass of activists to push forth a pro-immigration agenda, in particular the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. The DREAM Act is the only federal legislation that would grant conditional citizenship and some financial aid assistance to undocumented students who have completed two years of college or enlist in military service. Since the DREAM Act failed to pass, undocumented students have moved from peaceful marches to acts of civil disobedience, seeking to disrupt the public discourse that positions undocumented students as living in the shadows of our system. Undocumented college students have created public forums in which they «come out» from these invisible images and pronounce themselves as «undocumented and unafraid».

Student Activism, Politics, and Campus Climate in Higher Education presents a comprehensive, contemporary portrait of political engagement and student activism at postsecondary institutions in the United States. This resource explores how colleges and universities are experiencing unrest and in what ways broader sociopolitical conflicts are evident on-campus, ultimately unpacking the political dimensions of student engagement within campus climates. Chapter authors in this book critically synthesize relevant research, illuminate interdisciplinary perspectives, and interrogate how current issues of power and oppression shape participatory democracy and higher education at large. A go-to resource for researchers, faculty, administrators, and student affairs professionals, this text addresses the most intractable challenges facing society and its institutions of higher education.

Historically and contemporarily, student activists have worked to address oppression on college and university campuses. This book explores the experiences of students engaged in identity-based activism today as it relates to racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and other forms of oppression. Grounded by a national study on student activism and the authors’ combined 40 years of experience working in higher education, Identity-Based Student Activism uses a critical, power-conscious lens to unpack the history of identity-based activism, relationships between activists and administrators, and student activism as labor. This book provides an opportunity for administrators, educators, faculty, and student activists to reflect on their current ideas and behaviors around activism and consider new ways for improving their relationships with each other, and ultimately, their campus climates.

The primary aim of this text is to provide educators with specific strategies for engaging in equity and inclusion work on college campuses. We include the perspectives of faculty and staff with a range of experiences and expertise to address current topics evolving at various levels and functional areas in the academy. Rather than replicate findings and recommendations established in extant literature, we provide faculty, staff, and graduate students with the insight and tools they will require to transform established recommendations into actionable solutions and promising practices. This book offers theoretical and practical approaches to evolving diversity, equity, and inclusion concerns in higher education. The core themes of this volume center on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in higher education. While some educators use these terms interchangeably, we define diversity as a concept that envelopes several modes of social identity, including race, ethnicity, gender, ability, sexual orientation, faith/non-faith affiliation, size, veteran’s status, etc. The practice of fortifying representation amongst minoritized populations without making considerations for structure and support has been the primary model for diversifying the academy for the past 40 years. Within the context of higher education and diversity, our conversation shifts beyond ensuring marginalized communities are represented. Within each chapter, the contributing authors address a wide range of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging topics that are unique to their positionality as educators in the postsecondary sector. As editors, we intentionally identify authors with diverse professional backgrounds who offer a range in their approaches to addressing emergent trends in their respective areas in higher education. In addition to submitting manuscripts that engage critical examinations of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the postsecondary sector, authors were encouraged to design supplemental material for their chapters, such as training modules, study guides, case studies, guides for utilizing critical research approaches and design, and interactive activities that can be replicated in various settings on campus (e.g., the classroom, residence halls, student organization trainings, etc.).

This book explores the dynamics of political activism within colleges and universities. It critically examines the potential for institutional change towards social justice through the themes of identity development, tactics, and institutional responses, highlighting the possibilities of such efforts. With a focus on colleges and universities, the book examines how political activism can be harnessed to challenge existing power structures and promote equity and inclusivity. It presents a range of research that highlights how students, faculty, and administrators have mobilized for change. Chapters delve into the possibilities and limits of political engagement within higher educational institutions, offering valuable insights for understanding the potential of political activism in catalyzing positive change within colleges and universities. By shedding light on these efforts, the book critically examines the role of education in fostering social justice. Political Activism in Colleges and Universities will be an invaluable resource for scholars and practitioners in the fields of education, education policy and leadership, educational research, politics and developmental psychology, while also appealing to anyone interested in the power of collective action to shift policy and practice. This book was originally published as a special issue of Peabody Journal of Education.

This handbook brings together scholarship from various subfields, disciplinary traditions, and geographic and geopolitical contexts to understand how student voice is operating in different higher education dimensions and contexts around the world. The handbook helps not only to map the range of student voice practices in college and university settings, but also to identify the common core elements, enabling conditions, constraints, and outcomes associated with student voice work in higher education. It offers a broad understanding of the methodologies, current debates, history, and future of the field, identifying avenues for future research.

This book weaves together two distinct and powerfully related sources of knowledge: the author’s journey and transition from a once undocumented immigrant from Guatemala to a hyperdocumented academic, and five years of on-going national research on the identity, education, and agency of undocumented college students. In interlacing both personal experiences with findings from her empirical qualitative research, Chang explores practical and theoretical pedagogical, curricular, and policy-related discussions around issues that impact undocumented immigrants while provide compelling rich narrative vignettes. Collectively, these findings support the argument that undocumented students can cultivate an empowering self-identity by performing the role of infallible cultural citizen.

This book examines the changing influences of diversity in American higher education. The volume offers evidence and recommendations to positively shape inclusive learning and engagement of students, faculty, staff and community across the complex terrains of urban, suburban, and rural organizations within higher education today. Chapters highlight critical collaborations across student affairs and academic affairs, and delve into milestones addressing access, retention, engagement, and thriving within distinctive institutional types (e.g., research, liberal arts, community colleges, Minority Serving Institutions). Authors also explore the nuanced changes occurring against the contemporary backdrop of COVID-19 experiences – including the rise of anti-Asian racism, the salience of implicit biases, and the disparate access to and impacts of health services. Essential chapters refocus our consideration about the trajectories of historically underrepresented groups and their peers (including, African Americans, Hispanic/Latino, Indigenous people, individuals with disabilities and those identifying as LGBTQ+, undocumented students, and women) in American higher education.