Straddling Class in the Academy: 26 Stories of Students, Administrators, & Faculty from Poor and Working-Class Backgrounds and Their Compelling Lessons for Higher Education Policy & Practice by
Why do we feel uncomfortable talking about class? Why is it taboo? Why do people often address class through coded terminology like trashy, classy, and snobby? How does discriminatory language, or how do conscious or unconscious derogatory attitudes, or the anticipation of such behaviors, impact those from poor and working class backgrounds when they straddle class? Through 26 narratives of individuals from poor and working class backgrounds - ranging from students, to multiple levels of administrators and faculty, both tenured and non-tenured - this book provides a vivid understanding of how people can experience and straddle class in the middle, upper, or even elitist class contexts of the academy. Through the powerful stories of individuals who hold many different identities--and naming a range of ways they identify in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, ability, and religion, among others--this book shows how social class identity and classism impact people's experience in higher education and why we should focus more attention on this dimension of identity. The book opens by setting the foundation by examining definitions of class, discussing its impact on identity, and summarizing the literature on class and what it can tell us about the complexities of class identity, its fluidity, sometimes performative nature, and the sense of dissonance it can provoke. This book brings social class identity to the forefront of our consciousness, conversations, and behaviors and compels those in the academy to recognize classism and reimagine higher education to welcome and support those from poor and working class backgrounds. Its concluding chapter proposes means for both increasing social class consciousness and social class inclusivity in the academy. It is a compelling read for everyone in the academy, not least for those from poor or working class backgrounds who will find validation and recognition and draw strength from its vivid stories.
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Available for purchase, roughly $35.00 (paperback)
Barnes & Noble
Available for purchase, roughly $35.00 (paperback)
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Outside the ISU Library?
Feel free to use / adapt our materials here for your own group discussions on Straddling Class in the Academy! Just link, cite, and let us know how it goes!
STRADDLING CLASS IN THE ACADEMY
26 Stories of Students, Admins & Faculty from
Poor & Working-Class Backgrounds and
Their Compelling Lessons for Higher Ed Policy & Practice
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Library DEI Book Discussion Series, Spring 2023
Welcome! This Guide is being developed as part of a Spring 2023 library staff DEI discussion series on the book Straddling Class in the Academy, being read by library staff and facilitated by members of the library's DEI Committee.
This Guide is a work in progress! The Guide should be useful to others for its growing content, structure, and syllabus of additional relevant readings. After the series concludes, we may continue to add materials to the Guide as well.
For questions or comments on this Guide, please contact Susan Vega García.
