Graduation Year

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Communication

Major Professor

Aisha Durham , Ph.D.

Co-Major Professor

Chris McRae, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Keith Berry, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Jarod Roselló, Ph.D.

Keywords

art-based research, autoethnography, Black feminist thought, performance inquiry

Abstract

In this autoethnographic qualitative study, I introduce “STOP-motion” as a Black feminist organizing concept, methodological approach, and praxis to examine the twinness of arresting moments when disruption, displacement, disorientation, or disembodiment prompts critical reflection and transforms outsider-within moments into movements of resistance and collective empowerment. I recount three ARRESTING moments of racialized gender I have endured in white-dominated academic spaces: being STOPPED in a breakfast line at a conference, STOPPED in a department bathroom, and STOPPED by a large promotional department banner that exhibited myself and two Black colleagues. Relying on Black feminist aesthetics, I experiment with various artistic democratized forms of representation in my critical autoethnographic performance inquiry. Specifically, I engage stop-motion animation, autobiographical comics, and personal narrative from a STOP-motion approach. I situate STOP-motion in Black feminist studies, performance studies, and critical cultural studies in communication. Ultimately, I argue that STOP-motion generates new ways of understanding identity, space, and institutional powers in the academy.

Included in

Communication Commons

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