(Student) Activism as a Queer Worldmaking Disruption to White Supremacy and Heteropatriarchy within and Beyond Higher Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore how queer (student) activists challenge, disrupt, and transform higher education. With queer schools of thought as the theoretical framework, I positioned (student) activism as a queer intervention into white supremacist and heteropatriarchal logics at Auburn University. Using collaborative autoethnography as the methodology, I collected data through reflective, retroactive, and collaborative writing; two focus groups; individual interviews; and document analysis. The collaborators and myself engaged in intuitive and analytic approaches to writing (Alexander, 2016), as well as writing as analysis (Richardson & St. Pierre, 2005) to understand their experiences as (student) activists. Building (student) activist communities, catalyzing queer awakenings, and the art of organizing illuminate the collaborators’ and my experiences as queer worldmaking practices to resist white supremacist and heteropatriarchal logics. I offer implications for students, faculty, staff, administrators, and community members engaged in activism with the intention of queering/transforming higher education.