Abstract

Using a transformative mixed methods approach, I explored the ways in which genres and racial projects are constitutive of each other and contribute to the racialization of Latinx students in higher education and result in disparate outcomes for Latinx students. Latinx research participants revealed the myriad ways in which they are racialized throughout the education system and the numerous ways they encounter whiteness on a daily basis. I focused on two genres in particular: the federally mandated race and ethnicity categories and their intersections with Big Data/Predictive Analytics (BDPA) projects at the university. Rhetorical Genre Studies (RGS) and Racial Formation Theory (RFT) guided my work and through synthesis of these theories, I proposed a theory of Generic-Racial Interactions (GRIs). I proposed that GRIs, as the sites where genres are racialized, are concrete levers that structure and institutionalize racialized outcomes at the university. Further, GRIs interact with BDPAs and reify racialized outcomes that project historical disparities into the future. I argued that identifying disparate racialized outcomes at any level of the university will reveal the GRIs that maintain and reproduce the outcomes. Critical examination of GRIs by social-justice-minded agents of the university should lead to transformation of GRIs. Transformation of GRIs at various levels and scales within the university have the potential to transform the university. Through the synthesis of RGS and RFT, this project presents a novel approach to the study of racialized disparities in higher education for Latinx students. Further, it reveals concrete structures through which to enact transformative change.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2019

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Rounsaville, Angela

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Degree Program

Texts and Technology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0008275; DP0023646

Language

English

Release Date

June 2021

Length of Campus-only Access

1 year

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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