Student learning across cultures and difference in co-curricular campus spaces at a historically white institution
Date
2023
Authors
Smith, Nicholas Alexander, author
Stewart, D-L, advisor
Ellis, Michael, committee member
Felix, Oscar, committee member
Malinin, Laura, committee member
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Abstract
This study examines what undergraduate students say they learn about engaging with difference and across cultures in the Michigan Union and the Trotter Multicultural Center at the University of Michigan, a historically white institution. The University of Michigan is a historically white institution because of its majority of white students, long-preserved values of eliteness and prestige, and history of racial inequity. This research is a constructivist, triangulated multiple case study (Bhattacharya, 2017) with the college union and multicultural center as the two cases. Information-rich maximum variation sampling (Patton, 1990) was used to inform participant recruitment. Using Strange and Banning's (2001, 2015) four component model of the campus environment and Pope et al.'s (2004, 2009) multicultural competence model, this study describes how co-curricular environments shape and influence student learning. Multiple semi-structured interviews were employed, including an education journey mapping exercise (Annamma, 2017) between participants and the researcher. Key findings emerged from this research about the Michigan Union, the Trotter Multicultural Center, commonalities across the two cases, and participant patterns. The Michigan Union data categories were: (1) Core to the University; (2) Connecting with Others; and (3) Learning with Others. The data categories from the Trotter Multicultural Center were: (1) A Central Meeting Place; (2) A Space Where You Can Be Yourself; and (3) Interactions with Difference. The four commonalities across the two cases of the Michigan Union and Trotter Multicultural Center were: (1) The Spaces were Birthed for Different Reasons, But They are Both Unionizing Spaces; (2) The Dominant Features Represent the People Who Inhabit Them; (3) Both Centrally Located, But Not Equitable in Size; and (4) Students' Range of Emotions About Both Buildings. Lastly, four patterns across the study's participants included: (1) Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Participants Saw Themselves in the Trotter Multicultural Center; (2) White Participants Connected Effortlessly in the Michigan Union; (3) Multicultural Competence is A Work in Progress for Everyone; and (4) All Participants Wanted to Disrupt Campus Structures That Do Not Work for Everybody. The researcher discusses findings considering current literature, implications for theory and practice, and recommendations for future study.
Description
Rights Access
Subject
cultures
spaces
co-curricular
student
learning