Abstract
This study is a narration of the trajectory of the author’s profession to inspire, encourage and solidarize with others who have and are going through similar challenges in their professional journeys. The paper is a motivational speech that was borne out of interactions with colleagues, students and strangers. It is about the story of our lives as researchers, teachers and humans. It is an outcome of metacognition, a recount of a story that needs to be told. It is an auto-ethnography in the making. The story, although unique to the self, is not unique to the circumstances and situations of the narrative. The self is not the body but arises in social experience. Although unique in various ways we share career goals, similar institutions, subject matter, and most of all we teach and research about and for social justice. The study is a sociocultural identity presentation. My very being affects what I observe, represent/interpret and these observations and experiences affect what I write. This mode of inquiry affects how others react to what I say. I touch a world beyond the self. As a researcher who is turned into the one being researched, I enact the basic assumption of interpretive, qualitative social science that one cannot separate the knower from the known. The story is about our shared identity as a community of learners, teachers, and researchers of a common global society. We can use our shared challenges as a platform for solidarizing and turning struggles into opportunities for growth/success.
Presenters
Sidonia AlenumaProfessor, Sociology and Anthropology, Saint Olaf College, Minnesota, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
NARRATIVE INQUIRY, SOCIOCULTURAL IDENTITY, INTERSECTIONALITY, INTERSUBJECTIVITY, PRAXIS, MULTICULTURAL SELF
